Fading Colors: Season 2
by BittersweetRecollections
Summary: Roxanna Hylkio has never been normal but meeting Yugi and the gang has just made things weirder. It's time for Battle City and she's looking for the truth. But, the truth can really hurt sometimes... And once you know it, there's no turning back.
1. Prologue

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Prologue**

'_Dusk'_

The plane blew up. It was so loud, I was surprised the sound didn't make me go deaf.

I had managed to get out of the explosion in time, but the other three and the pilot… Well, they were already dead before I even set the vehicle on fire.

'_I told you not to overdo it!' _The voice sighed. '_Blowing up a plane is overdoing it!'_

"Well, I shouldn't attract too much attention, and if I was found on a plane with four dead people, I would think that I'd be thrown into prison." I laughed, the familiar rush of excitement in my bloodstream as I ran. "Besides, Ishizu warned me in the letter that I'd come into Domino in a bit of a big entrance… What's better than exploding planes for a welcoming signal?"

He groaned. _'You need to go find Ishizu, visit another place, then find Yugi Mutou and that other person… Maybe you should act a little more serious?'_

"No~ I'll be carefree, until I actually get in some trouble. Even you have to admit, we've been running too much. But, again, you do have a point… I'll go visit the beach first!" I stopped running and scratched my head. "I just don't know where it is…"

'_Why the beach?'_ He blinked.

"Oh, well, there's something I have to do over there… And then I'll worry about finding Ishizu and Yugi…" I sighed. "Well, now… Let's see, I haven't ever really been to Domino City before…"

'_Just ask for directions…'_ He suggested.

"Yeah…"

_

* * *

_

Yugi

It was nighttime, and I was bringing a box full of new games Grandpa had ordered back to the Game Shop.

I shivered, and looked around. The streets seemed normal enough. But there was a chilling feeling in the air. Like something bad was going to happen…

Then I felt it again. Someone or something was staring at me… I slowly walked towards the Game Shop, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

And I saw it, just as I reached the door of Game Shop.

A pair of ominous black eyes. Not dark brown, but pure black, darker than the night sky. It was a pair of human eyes.

I gulped, and ran into the shop, unsure of what I had just saw.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Just a prologue. This is the season after Inner Apocalyse: Season 1. So, just a little intro... Tell me what you guys think.**


	2. Chapter 1 Something's Starting

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Notes:**

**Anyway, if you still don't know, this is the next season after **_**Inner Apocaylpse**_**.**

**And I have a little bonus for you guys… These are a few lines I might put in a chapter later on… Very happy chapter as you will see:**

"**Well, it happened like this… After a rather unfortunate accident, my soul was severed from my body-"**

"_**Your soul was what?"**_

"**Uh… Maybe not the best choice of words on my part… But anyway continuing with my story… Then my soul was sealed to a stone tablet, condemned to eternal pain-"**

"_**Condemned to eternal what? Who did that to you?"**_

"**Gah, what is it with my vocabulary today? It isn't as bad as how I'm saying it is, really! I'm exaggerating things, a lot!"**

"_**How can I believe you, after hearing all of that?"**_

"**Um, uh… You just do, because we're friends and friends shouldn't lie to each other?"**

"… _**Seriously? That's the best excuse you could think of?"**_

"**Sadly, yes."**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 1- Something's Starting

_Roxanna_

"AH! How do you get this stupid thing to shut up?" With each word that I spoke, I tried jamming the button that was supposed to stop the alarm clock from ringing. But the clock continued to chime, much to my growing irritation. The thing that ticked me off the most was that the alarm clock was only supposed to beep a few times. But, the ringing sounded like a bird was screeching a very mournful melody of death. In short, it sounded exactly like a bird was being choked to death, slowly and painfully. It was a very annoying and depressing sound, especially since I've been listening to it for a couple of minutes now.

Great… I think karma decided to just give me a big slap in the face today, to make up for all the times it didn't teach me a lesson. No, not a slap, more like beating the crap out of me.

The day just started out _wonderful_! My alarm clock didn't go off when it was supposed to, and I had to rush to get ready for school. While I managed to stuff down some food, I almost got flattened by one of the bookshelves when it just randomly decided to tip over on me. Luckily I had dodged in time, or I would have needed to go to the hospital to get a few broken bones fixed. And then, just as I was going to walk out the door, my alarm clock started ringing and wouldn't stop!

_The school play's today too… And to think I practice so hard, only to be late… Because of a stupid alarm clock!_

Everyone who was part of the play had worked really hard together, rehearsing after school. It started out rough, with everyone trying to get their lines right and actually getting me to cooperate with all the other members. I'll admit though, the last time we practiced, the performance looked pretty great. And, we hadn't even added any of the special effects then. All the parents, teachers, other students, family members, and the school faculty were going to attend to see how the whole play was going to turn out today.

The gang's families were all going to be there. Even Joey's dad (whom Joey despised with passion that rivaled even my dark hatred towards Lucifer) grudgingly agreed to come. I had felt a pang of loneliness, knowing that my parents and brother wouldn't be showing up. I mean, they were kinda… Dead. Unless they were going to rise up from their graves as zombies, I don't think they'll be able to see me perform.

Finally, out of pure frustration, I threw the clock against a wall with all of my might. There was a loud crash when the clock impacted the wall. A few pieces that were supposed to be on the clock fell onto the ground, broken off by the collision. Then, a 'thump' when the clock dropped to the ground, probably damaged greatly. And it fell silent. I blinked, and face palmed. _Why didn't I think of that earlier? Even though it's broke… It finally shut up!_

Then, when I walked out of the shop door, I tripped over something and landed face-first into the hard ground. "This day keeps getting better and better…" I muttered, and stood up to see what was responsible for my painful fall. I was surprised to see it was a small present. It was in white box, tied up with a shiny emerald green ribbon. _So that's what I tripped over… I wonder if someone dropped it here by accident…_

I looked around, but there wasn't anybody nearby. Shrugging, I went to stuff the present in my pocket, in hopes of maybe finding its owner later.

There was something else in that pocket, so I pulled it out. I was a bit surprised at first when I saw what it was. _To think I almost forgot about this little thing… _The Millennium Gem.

I momentarily forgot about the play and being late for school. I held the gem up towards the sky to get a better look at it. After all, I hadn't even thought twice about it at all in a long time…

There was a blur of grey that darted past my face, and I blinked, looking at my empty hand. The Millennium Gem had disappeared. "Of all the things to happen-!"

I looked around, before glaring up at the bird circling above my head tauntingly. It was a grey bird that looked a bit like a falcon. And in its beak was the Gem.

The falcon's eyes gleamed with mischief, and with one swift and powerful flap of its wings, it took off higher into the sky. The sun blinded me for a moment when I tried to follow the falcon's movements with my eyes. I blinked for a while, trying to rid my eyes of the black dots that danced at the edge of my vision. When I finally recovered, the falcon was already way farther ahead of me.

"Things just can't get any better!" I groaned, pursuing the sly creature. It wasn't such an easy task. The falcon would swoop upwards, dive downwards, and turn in random directions at random times. It was teasing me, I could tell. The bird could easily have disappeared into the distance, leaving me behind. But it must have decided to play toy a bit with me, taunting me with the gem still in its shiny, sharp beak.

'_What's all the ruckus about this time? Shouldn't you be at school?' _R yawned, floating next to me, her eyes barely open. '_You were pretty hyped up about that play… And now you're just going to not act in it?'_

'_That falcon over there stole the Gem!' _I pointed at the bird flying ahead of us.

R's eyes jerked open. She was wide awake now. All of her earlier drowsiness had disappeared in an instant. She might have even looked… Angered. '_Leave it to me. I'm gonna be able to run faster than you… Plus, I work better with birds.'_

I nodded_. 'Good luck. Just try not to make me too late to school, alright? I have to be in that play, or… Well, I don't really want to think about the consequences…'_

_

* * *

_

R

As I ran after the falcon, I whistled, and then yelled. "Phoenix!" My faithful black plumaged bird swooped down out of nowhere, and perched onto my shoulder. As usual, out of the top of her head stuck out a crimson colored feather. Phoenix looked really energetic, and chirped joyously. I on the other hand was not in the best of moods.

I pointed towards the falcon. "I want you get that gem back from the grey falcon over there, ok?" Phoenix nodded, a glint of excitement in her eyes, and rose into the air, ready to chase after her target.

I looked up to the sky to see how Phoenix was doing, and didn't notice that I was still running ahead in full speed. So it wasn't long before I ran into someone. Both of us fell, landing on our backs. There were two dull 'thump's and a few mumbled 'ouches'.

"Ouch…" I rubbed the back of my head, which just had to make impact with the hard ground. Wow, karma must have a grudge with me… "Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going…"

"Roxy, is that you?" I blinked, and looked up. Standing in front of me was Tea, and Yugi was picking himself up from the ground, rubbing his head as well. Heh, maybe I wasn't the only one who karma disliked… There was Roxy and Yugi too.

"Oh, hey guys!" I smiled, and got up. "Heh, sorry Yugi, I didn't mean to run into you. I'm a bit clumsy today…"

"It's fine," Yugi smiled. "We should get going to school, after all we're going to be late…" Tea and Yugi started walking ahead.

"Yeah…" I was going to follow them, but I blinked.

Tea and Yugi turned around. Tea looked confused. "You ok?"

"I think so, but… I have a feeling that I have to do something important…" I scratched my head, trying to recall what I had been doing before. But nothing came up. "Eh, must be nothing… Let's go to school before we miss the play!"

All of started walking towards the direction of the school, and Tea decided to start a conversation. "Did you guys hear about the plane blowing up?" Yugi and I blinked, which Tea took as a 'no'. "Well, the plane landed in Domino a few days ago. But it was supposed to have forty passengers onboard. All forty of the passengers didn't even get on the plane. And someone had blown the plane up, after it had arrived in Domino City. The only casualty that the police can confirm is the pilot, who was apparently stabbed to death multiple times with a knife."

"And they have no idea who did the crime?" I asked, a little worried and interested at the same time. "There weren't any other deaths?"

"Well, they found hints that three others had died… But none of them were supposed to have boarded the plane in the first place… Apparently, they had all suffered jabs from knives at their throats, yet none of them had any weapons on them. " Tea looked to be in deep thought. "The one committed this crime is still undetermined and still out there, somewhere…"

The three of us walked in silence for a bit, contemplating the possibilities of who the killer might have been.

"I've had this weird feeling that something's going to happen soon. Something bad." Yugi finally spoke up. "A few days ago, while walking back home at night, I saw a pair of black eyes staring at me. And they were human eyes. At first I thought I was being paranoid, and imagined the whole thing. But now I'm one hundred percent sure that my own eyes weren't deceiving me…"

A shiver went through my body. For some reason, the phrase 'pair of black eyes' seemed to make me feel uncomfortable. "You sure they were black? Maybe they were really dark brown…"

"No, they were pure black. Trust me." Yugi shook his head.

"Hmm… That's weird. First, it snowed in Domino City for the first time in years… Then, a plane was blown up, with no trace of the criminal. And, not to mention those pair of black eyes…" I murmured, tapping the side of my face in deep thought. "Everything that's been happening has to mean something…" Then I stopped in my tracks, and groaned. I just remembered. "I forgot! Oh, great, what am I going to do?" I looked around, but Phoenix was nowhere in sight. Neither was that crazy falcon.

Yugi and Tea stopped and looked at me once again. "What's wrong?" They chorused.

A little light bulb went off in my head, and a smirk tugged at corners of my mouth. _Why hadn't I thought of that earlier? _"It's nothing. I lost something, but I intend to get it back… My own way." I snapped the fingers and waited.

It wasn't long before a swarm of birds had arrived, flapping their wings so they hovered around me. Yugi's and Tea's jaws dropped to the ground. Luckily there weren't any other people around…

"Alright, I want all of you to go find Phoenix, and I'm pretty sure you all know what she looks like?" I asked, and the birds nodded in response, to my surprise. "Well then, find her, and then she'll tell you guys what to do. Now, move out!"

The birds complied, and all of them flew out in different directions. The only evidence that they had even been here was a few small feathers scattered on the ground around me.

"Well, that's the end of that…" I sighed, and turned to the still shocked others.

"What did you…?" Yugi asked, dumbfounded.

"Heh… Well, I have a little thing with birds… They follow me all the time, and if I'm lucky, I can get them to listen to a few commands… So I can count on them for help sometimes, when I really need it. We should go to school now, you know… 'Cause we're gonna be late!"

"Oh…" The two just laughed nervously, and we set off towards school once more, in a much faster pace. We were going to be sooo late!

"The three of you look like you need some guidance. Would any of you like to have your fortune told?" The voice caught me off guard, and I tried to look for who it belonged to. And I hadn't noticed that I was still walking, while looking left and right. So, I didn't spot the pebble in my path. After I stepped on it, my feet and legs slipped underneath me, and I flailed my arms around, trying to balance myself. But it was in vain. For the second time today, I fell on my aching back. Luckily, this time my head was ok.

"Owwww!" I moaned, and slowly got back up to my feet.

Yugi and Tea had stopped walking as well, to look over towards the man that had spoken a few moments ago. He sat behind a table, wearing a hooded black cloak. The hood went over the top of his head and hid his eyes from our view. The small table he sat behind was covered in a dark purple colored cloth. A clear crystal ball sat in the middle of the table, resting on a small bundle of red cloth. The man moved his hands around the crystal ball in a slow, mysterious way, like a fortune teller would.

_Well duh, the guy is a fortune teller! But then…? _The table was set up on the side of the street, in front of a dark, abandoned looking alley. _This street is pretty empty… Wouldn't it make much more sense for him to set up some place with much more people…? Like a carnival?_ I didn't really trust this guy. He gave me a sort of… Unsettling feeling…

"Can you really tell the future?" Yugi asked, him and Tea walking up to the table. I reluctantly went with them, eyeing the fortune teller with caution.

"Yes…" The robed guy smiled deviously. "But, I'll need a personal item of yours to tell it to you… Like that necklace you have around your neck."

I didn't like where this was going. "Yugi, why do you even want to see your future anyway?"

"Well…" Yugi hesitated, clutching the Puzzle in his hands. "The spirit in the Millennium Puzzle is pretty confused about what's going to happen in the future… And he's worrying a lot about it. I want to help him, but…" Yugi looked back towards the fortune teller. "I can't give you my Puzzle!"

"Then I can't tell your fortune." The fortune teller replied. "I need that necklace in order to do so."

Yugi faltered once more, but removed the Puzzle from his neck. At this point, I noticed that instead of the old brown string, the Puzzle had a silver chain. But that didn't really matter right now. Yugi was holding out his Puzzle to the fortune teller. "Ok, but only for a second…"

The fortune teller was reaching for the Puzzle, when I stepped in between him and Yugi. I pushed Yugi's hands back, and slapped the man's hands away lightly. "Look, Yugi, this guy's a total fraud, and you need to keep your Puzzle safe. Let's get going to school already, we're tardy enough as it is."

The fortune teller looked pretty annoyed at first, but then he smirked. "Young lady, you shouldn't push others away from their own fate, just because you received a rather depressing one. Not all prophecies end up as horrible tragedies."

I froze, unable to move, the moment he had said 'prophecies'. I was liking this guy less and less. He had this sneer that made him look like he knew more about me, than I even do. It was a rather chilling and surprising thought.

Yugi was still confused, a little by the statement that the fortune teller had just said, and still trying to decide whether or not to give the Puzzle for a bit of information regarding the future.

While I was still in shock, the fortune teller must have grown impatient. He wrenched the Puzzle from Yugi's hands by force, to our surprise. And before the rest of us could react, he tipped the table over, sending the crystal ball flying into the air. Yugi, Tea, and I fell back out of surprise. The crystal ball landed on the floor, and shattered to tiny, sharp pieces. The man, taking advantage of this time, fled down into that dark alley, clutching the Millennium Puzzle in his hands. I heard him chuckle darkly as he disappeared from view.

"That… Little slippery - fake fortune telling - Puzzle stealing - jerk!" I growled, and stood up. Yugi looked utterly horrified, but quickly changed from shocked to angry. He bolted after the thief, looking determined to get back his precious belonging.

"What is it today, Steal – Things – From – People – Day?" I muttered. "First my Gem, and then his Puzzle…"

"Hey, Roxy," Tea finally recovered from her shock, but still looked really worried. "You go and help Yugi, get his Puzzle back. I'm going to see if I can get some help, alright? Just make sure both of you be careful."

I nodded, a bit surprised that she mentioned the idea, and smiled. "Sure. And thanks, I will. And I'll also make sure to give that creep a good whack in the face for the both of us."

We gave each other one last glance and a small smile, before we ran our separate ways; me down the alley and Tea towards the crowded street.

I ran down the path of dirty, old buildings that made up the walls of the alley, hoping to find Yugi soon, while thoughts rushed through my head. _I wonder if Phoenix managed to get back the Gem… And I hope that Roxy doesn't end up killing me for making her… A tad bit late for the play… Oh who am I kidding, I'm not even going to get to the school until the whole play probably is over!_

I skidded to a stop next to Yugi when I saw him standing, looking at one of the walls of the alley in frustration. "Hey, what's the matter? Why aren't you chasing after that guy?"

Yugi pointed at the wall. "He actually wants us to follow him… He's probably leading us to a trap…" I blinked, looking at the wall. On it was a paper with a red arrow, pointing in a direction. And now that I looked more carefully around me, each wall had an arrow, pointing towards wherever that guy wanted us to go.

"Well…" I tried to calm myself down. I really felt like punching something to take my anger out, but being frustrated wasn't going to help us in this situation. "I guess we'll have to follow 'em, wherever they're going to lead us… We don't really have a choice in the matter…"

Yugi sighed. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been stupid enough to even think about handing the Puzzle to him, we wouldn't be in this situation…"

"Hey, we all mess up now and then, so don't beat yourself up. Anyway, humans aren't perfect. Now, the thing is, you have to learn from your mistakes, and try to fix them…" I looked down at the path in front of us. "Let's start with getting your Puzzle back. And then, learn from this: Never give anything you hold dear to a person you don't really know. Especially cloaked creeps with scary smiles and very tacky and fake looking crystal balls."

Yugi cracked a small smile. "You know, I'm surprised you of all people manage to joke around at this kind of situation…"

"Eh, what can I say, it lightens the mood." I shrugged, smiling a little bit too. But he also reminded me, that Roxy never mentioned about me… I have to bring it up sometime…

And the two of us looked back towards the path in front of us, and started running, with a clear objective in our minds: Getting back the Puzzle.

And maybe beating up a certain fortune telling fraud while we were at, it for all the trouble he caused us.

**

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**

Author's Notes:

**Sorry it took sooo long for me to update. And really sorry for my horrible vocabulary. I need to work on that a lot more… Anyway, I want to again thank anybody who's read my stories, because you're the only reason I actually still write. xD Again, the reviews would be very nice… You know, just click the little button, and write something. Even just an 'update' would be nice. xD I'm not really picky… And I again, just noticed that Roxanna never brought up R to the others… I'll have to do that sometime this season. But, thanks for reading, and hope this chapter was ok…**


	3. Chapter 2 Cursed

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Please, don't ask about R's unique way of cussing… I just randomly made it up. Oh and, a heads up. 'Dusk' is not going to show up in a long time… And I don't know if Lucifer is even going to be in this season…**

**Chapter 2- Cursed**

_R_

"Oh my gosh," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. Following winding path the arrows pointed to had taken a lot of energy. "That jerk had to make us run that much, even after he stole your puzzle? He's such a flaming flaky flabby flattened flowery flying fish!"

Yugi was just as tired as I was. He glanced at me, panting and raising an eyebrow with a light smile on his face. "What type of fish did you say?"

"A flaming flaky flabby flipping flattened flowery flying fish." I replied smiling slyly, and lowered my voice, while trying to hold in a tiny giggle. "I use that instead of a few… Other more unpleasant words."

Yugi sweat dropped. "Well, that's… Nice."

Our conversation had been a desperate attempt to lighten up the tense mood. And it actually took our minds off our current problem for a few seconds. But, those few moments were short lived. I glanced in front of me. The red arrows were gone, but they had served their purpose. They had led us all the way… Here…

At an abandoned warehouse. The wood seemed worn, and the building itself seemed like it hadn't been used in a long time. Even though the place seemed old, the structure seemed pretty stable, at least strong enough to hold the building up.

"I guess that's where that guy wanted us to go?" I motioned towards the warehouse in front of us.

"Yeah," Yugi nodded. "I have a bad feeling about this though… We'll have to be careful."

The two of us walked up to the rusty doors of the warehouse and pushed them open with some difficulty. We peered into the building, and cautiously stepped in.

The room was dark, save for little bits of light streaming in from the many gaps in the roof above. But, even that wasn't enough to let the two of us see clearly.

"I know you're in here!" Yugi yelled.

"Yeah, you flaming flaky flabby flipping flattened flowery flying fish, stop hiding already and come out like a real man should!" I growled, while Yugi sighed, probably thinking 'Seriously, of all the insults she could think of, she uses that one?'

The man still didn't appear, but we heard his voice. "So, you guys finally showed up? I was starting to get impatient…"

Suddenly, a spotlight shone in the middle of the air, right onto… The Millennium Puzzle. The ancient artifact was tacked into a sort of wall with a bolt. But the rest of the room was still shrouded in shadows.

"Hey, that's my Puzzle, give it back!" Yugi shouted.

"If you want it back…" The man chuckled ominously. "Then you'll have to win it from me in a duel."

The rest of the room suddenly lit up, and I shielded my eyes with my arms at first. Then I lowered my arms, to look around. A dueling arena was in the middle of the room. An elevated platform surrounded the perimeter of the room, and was held up by metallic beams. Some machinery and cans of gasoline were scattered around the walls of the warehouse. Black wires hung down from the roof like vines.

The man from before was standing next to one side of the arena, while me and Yugi were near the other side. "Well, Yugi, you do want your Puzzle back, don't you?"

Yugi glared defiantly at the robed figure. "Fine, I accept your challenge." But I could tell he was a little nervous. If he lost then the Puzzle would belong to that jerk…

"Hey, Yugi," I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Sorry I can't really help you much here… But, I know you're going to win, just go and do your best."

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Roxy." With that, he walked over to his side of the arena.

The man walked over to the opposite side, and the two of them both put their decks in place. The man smirked. "Now, if I win this duel, it'll be quite a haul today. This, and the Puzzle?" He pulled something out, and my eyes widened. It was the Millennium Gem! _That grey falcon must have been his! But then, where's Phoenix?_

"Hey, give my Millennium Gem back!" I growled, as the robed figure examined it.

He held it up to his face, turning it in different directions to get a good look at it. "Millennium Gem? You must be kidding." He chuckled darkly. "That's the more common name for this weapon. Its official name is the Bird's Eye, and it contains powers that even match to those of the Items. But, unlike the Millennium Items, this object can only be passed on if the previous owner gives it to that person willingly, or by killing the previous owner's bird."

My eyes widened. Then Phoenix…? As if on cue, my bird flew in through one of the gaps in the roof, teetering around in the air, and plummeted to the ground, in front of my feet. "Phoenix!" I knelt down, and saw that her head was in a weird angle, with blood trickling down her neck. Was she… Dead? No, she wasn't. She was still breathing. But Phoenix looked more dead than alive…

Yugi gasped. He was just as surprised as I was.

I was in shock. I'd never imagined this to happen… But more than shock, there was a small flicker of anger burning deep within me. Phoenix was my companion, and now… She was going to die? Subconsciously, I had moved my arm, so that my hand was hovering over Phoenix's limp body. When I had noticed, I blinked in confusion. _What am I doing?_

And then, my hourglass started to give off a faint gold glow. When the glow dimmed, my outstretched hand started to shine with a blinding white light. I winced, but not only because of the light. It felt like a thousand hot needles were being stabbed into that hand. My voice and disappeared, so I couldn't even scream in pain.

Only a few seconds had passed, but it felt like eternity. The light finally dissipated, and the pain disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. But, I felt tired, like I had run a marathon before, and didn't get anything to eat before and after. I just wanted to collapse on the floor right there. My eyes had started to shut, but my eyelids quickly slid up, when I felt a sharp pain at the top of my head. I yelped, standing up, and was surprised to see Phoenix had vanished from the ground. Where was she?

My answer was answered when a harmonic chirp floated into the air, and Phoenix flew from the top of my head to hover in front of me. All the blood was nowhere to be seen, and the bird looked fine. _That little sneaky little bird must have pecked at my head a few moments ago! But still, that doesn't explain why she's completely fine now…_

The cloaked man seemed taken aback, but when he spoke, it seemed as if he had come to realize something. "Now I get it… The bird, the Millennium Hourglass, the Bird's Eye! They should have been enough to get me to realize it. But your ability to heal birds just helps me confirm it." He pointed a finger at me. "You were the cursed Sacred Guardian!"

I froze, and felt myself growing pale. "W-Wait, h-how do you know that about me?" I didn't even know that! Maybe he was lying, though, just trying to throw me off.

Yugi was equally as shocked. First of all, even he was confused on whether if I was Roxy or not. I mean, Roxy was never a type of Guardian, and definitely not a cursed one. And secondly, neither of us knew how this man would have so much knowledge regarding the Puzzle, the Millennium Items, the Bird's Eye, and _me_. I don't know really _anything_ about myself.

The man started laughing malevolently. I still couldn't see his hair or eyes, with the hood blocking them from view. "Oh, how inconsiderate of me! I forgot that you sealed all of your memories in this," He turned his head towards the Bird's Eye he was holding, before looking back at me. His mouth was curved into a smirk. "Too bad, even if you were to retrieve your memories from it, the Bird's Eye is incomplete. And thus, your recollections will be as well. So I'm guessing you don't remember a thing, right now, not even your name… Do you, Cursed One?"

I winced. It seemed to be an automatic reaction towards the words 'Cursed One.'

The man cackled once more, and said a mock apology. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry! You never really like that title, did you? Would you rather that I call you," He paused, and lowered his voice so it was barely audible. "Inferno's Curse?"

My shoulders started to shake, up and down, as my head hung down, and I remained silent. All of the emotions I had were jumbled tangling and merging with one another, confusing me. Those two words… _Inferno's Curse…_

Both Phoenix and Yugi could sense that something was wrong. While my bird was circling over my head, over and over again, Yugi glanced over at me. His eyes were full of worry, when he asked, "Roxy… You ok?" He seemed unsure of what he should call me.

My shoulder's continued to shake, as I started laughing, hollow, mournful laughter. Tears started flowing freely from my eyes, falling to the ground, sorrowful, lifeless tears. _All these feelings I'm having… Most are impossible to describe in human words… But some I can like… Dark hatred. Pure confusion. Endless grief. But more than all of those… Heart wrenching guilt. _

I didn't understand why I felt this way when he uttered those two words, or how he knew things about me and Yugi. He's definitely after the Puzzle and the Bird's Eye for a reason…

_And because of him I'm not so sure I really want to know about my past anymore… Being cursed doesn't sound very nice… _

I stopped laughing, and blinked away the last of my tears. "Yeah, Yugi, I'm fine… Just beat that creep, so we can get your Puzzle back, ok?" Then turning back towards the man, I smiled slightly. "So, in my past life, I was cursed? I'm guessing I had some pretty bad luck then, _huh_?" I started chuckling, and the man seemed to be surprised by my amusement. "I wonder if my fortune's still that bad… Why don't we test that, right now, eh?"

"What are you saying?" The man asked.

"That Bird's Eye, it's still mine since Phoenix is very much alive. Well, now, if you want to have the Bird's Eye, you need her dead, right? So, get your pet bird out here, and our pets will have a little battle, outside of the warehouse. The owner with the bird that comes back in here alive wins the Bird's Eye." I said casually. "Sounds pretty fair, right?"

"Fine." The man snapped his fingers, and that grey falcon from before emerged out of the shadows from the room. _So that bird was working with this guy after all!_ "And, I'll put the Eye right here, and if you win, you can take it. But, that's highly unlikely." He placed the Bird's Eye right beside his deck.

As if they had rehearsed it, Phoenix and the falcon glared at each other, and in perfect sync, flew out through a gap in the roof above.

_Phoenix… Good luck_. I silently sent my regards to her.

"Well, then Yugi," The man looked back at Yugi. "Let's get back to our duel."

"Right." Yugi nodded, looking determined.

Momentarily, the challenge I had given the mystery man took my thoughts off what he had said. The questions came swarming back, now, so many questions. But, a few specific question kept appearing over and over again.

_Is this guy really telling the truth about me?_

_Am I really cursed?_

_And why, when I hear the words 'Inferno's Curse', does a picture of ice show up?_

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**(The season before was Roxy getting tortured… Well, it's R's turn…) … Did I just curse my own character? O_O What is wrong with me?**

**Err, anyway, sorry for the late update. If you're reading this, please, if you can, review and tell me if I should describe Yugi's duel with the man, or should I just skip to after the duel and get to the… Interesting stuff. xD**

**Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 3 Poison and Voices

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Well, I was so happy when I checked my reviews ^^. Thanks, xyugiohluvrx, jeniashi, Golden-Black Dragon, Renji's-Chicka, deathnoteuser07, and last but not least Dragonjess. You guys rock! And I gotta thank the rest of my readers too. Haha, I'm a really lazy person, so without you guys… I wouldn't even be writing. xD**

**Hehe, sorry, but I lied in the last chapter… You'll see later on what I mean…**

**Oh, and warning, you'll probably never look at birds the same again after reading. O.O And, if you don't like cussing, well… There are a few words in this chapter… And a bit of violence in this chapter… I warned you.**

**And, I'm going to only summarize the duel…**

**Chapter 3- Poison and Voices**

_-Narrator-_

Now, there was one major disadvantage in the battle between the two birds, for Phoenix.

Phoenix was the size of a medium sized pigeon, while the grey falcon would be about three times as big. The falcon looked really intimidating compared to the tiny Phoenix. But the smaller bird's confidence didn't waver in the least bit. In fact, she seemed even more enthusiastic.

The two were flying in circles in an empty alley, about ten feet above the ground. They glared at one another with the menace only birds could have in their sly, gleaming eyes. Their brawl hadn't started yet, but the two were already getting into the mood, screeching insults out at each other. And, yes, birds have their own language, even if humans can't understand a word being said (or chirped).

"_- You big, fat, ugly-" _Phoenix continued with a long string of foul and insulting words that couldn't be accurately translated into any human language. _"-Sorry excuse for a bird! Nobody fucking messes with me and gets away with it."_

The grey falcon didn't even react negatively to any of the words. Instead she seemed even more amused._"Well, you've come up with a lot of names for me, eh? But I'd prefer you to call me Grey."_

"_Your owner must have been really uninspired when he gave you a name. Oh, and I'll call you Grey alright. You little Grey bastard!" _Phoenix continued to vent out her anger. Now, she may have not been the sweetest little bird, but if nobody would have expected her capable of that kind of language.

"_You can insult me all you want. But don't forget, last time, who had lost? It was you, so I wouldn't be talking, you puny little pest. After all, I will always be superior to you-" _Grey started getting a bit carried away, continuing to gloat about herself.

Phoenix took advantage of the situation, while Grey was still distracted. Diving with her deadly sharp talons outstretched, Phoenix was heading full speed towards Grey.

By the time Grey had finally noticed, and tried to dodge the blow, it was too late. There was a sound of flesh being torn, followed by a shrill screech of pain.

Phoenix's talon had managed to scratch near Grey's left eye. The falcon had staggered in mid-air, and started to slowly fall to the ground, looking exhausted and defeated. Phoenix had flown a good distance away from Grey, feeling as if she had already won. Phoenix's feeling of triumph was short lived, though.

Grey was flying upward again, looking as if she had regained all her previously lost energy. There was a deep gash, dangerously close to her eye. Blood was slowly trickling from the fresh wound, and a few of the crimson red droplets fell onto the floor, staining the worn, dull grey pavement. Anger filled the falcon's beady black eyes. _"That's it, you're going to pay for that, you pathetic little weakling!"_

There was a pause, as silence fell. The wind started blowing around restlessly in the distance, as if sensing the tense atmosphere. A metal trash can got knocked over from the strong winds. The sound of the metal coming in contact with the ground shattered the silence.

The two birds lunged at each other, both looking equally determined to win.

But no matter which one will be the victor, there's going to be death, blood forever stained into their memories.

In the distance, something else started that would greatly affect the outcome of the fight.

A car.

_

* * *

_

-R-

"What the flipping flying fish?" My jaw dropped. It was a few turns into the duel, and according to the mystery guy's monsters so far… Me and Yugi had managed to guess who it was. "Bandit Keith?" I was not very happy to know it was _him_ of all people.

The man pulled back the hood to reveal his face. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a familiar bandana with an American flag design on it. But his eyes seemed really distant and unfocused.

Now, if Roxy were here instead of me, she'd probably say something like:_ So it's you! You, the one who trapped me and the others in that cave back in Duelist Kingdom, and now you __**dare**__ steal my stuff and the Millennium Puzzle? Hand me a knife and I'll carve a design into your face like the ones people carve pumpkins for Halloween- _

Ok, maybe that was a _little _exaggerated… But, Roxy would be really mad.

I'm more confused than angry, though. _Why would Bandit Keith want the Millennium Puzzle, or the Bird's Eye? And since when did he own a falcon?_

"I am not Bandit Keith." The so called 'Bandit Keith' said. "I'm simply using him as a puppet to do my bidding. After I found him in the sea near Duelist Kingdom, I used him as a Mind Slave."

That comment had caused so many questions to swarm around in my head, it made me dizzy. It felt like my head was going to explode with all the questions that kept popping up.

Yugi must have been confused as well, but he didn't really have time to dwell on those questions, because the duel started again.

**

* * *

**

(Skipping forward in the Duel…)

**Life Points: Yugi- 100 / Keith- 250**

Even though Yugi was at a slight Life Point disadvantage, he was very close to beating Keith.

All of a sudden, Keith started blinking, looking utterly confused. "W-Where am I? What's going on? And why am I wearing this robe?" Then he looked around his surroundings, before seeing me and Yugi. "Yugi Mutou, Roxanna Hylkio?"

I sighed out of exasperation. _It's as if he wasn't dueling Yugi for the past few minutes… Wait, that's it! Right now, he's the normal, idiotic Bandit Keith! The one dueling Yugi was someone different, who seemed to know something about the Millennium Item, and my past…_

All of a sudden, Keith clutched his head with both hands, screaming 'help' and something about someone controlling him. It almost made me pity him, the way he seemed to be struggling to remain in control of his own body.

All of a sudden, Keith jumps onto the area where all the holograms for the Dueling arena was, and ran towards where the Puzzle was bolted to. I was too surprised to move, and helplessly watched what Keith was going to do. Keith looked both crazed and scared at the same time, as he gripped the Puzzle in one hand. "It's you! Stay out of my head!"

Me and Yugi both realized he thought that the _Puzzle _was the one controlling him.

Yugi yelled out, "Wait Keith, it's not the Puzzle-!"

But Keith was beyond listening to reason right now. He took the Puzzle and slammed it against the wall. Multiple gold pieces of the once complete Puzzle broke off and fell to the floor with a few dreadful 'clinks'. The separate pieces were scattered across the floor. The main piece was still attached to the chain, which was tacked to the wall.

Yugi and my eyes' widened in horror. I was stunned silent, while Yugi yelled out, "NOOO!"

Ok, forget about the pity, I want to kill the freaking jerk! My emotions started swirling around within me, and I was really unsure what I was feeling… Anger? Grief? Or was it guilt? Whatever it was, it made me want to strangle Keith.

But all of a sudden, Keith clutched his head once more, thrashing around as he yelled out for help.

A sudden thought came to me, that maybe, just maybe, if I knocked Keith unconscious, that whoever was trying to control Keith might not be able to. I lifted myself up onto the platform, and was about to punch Keith, when I stopped, hearing a voice.

"That's enough!" Someone familiar yelled, swinging down from the upper level of the warehouse using a hook connected to a rope, which was attached to the roof. It was Ryou! **(AN: Alright, it's gonna be confusing in this season, with all the characters running around, so I'm going to call the nice Bakura, 'Ryou', and the evil one 'Bakura'.)**

Ryou gracefully landed in front of Bandit Keith, and tackled him. Keith staggered backwards, and fell off the platform, landing on the floor, unconscious.

"Ryou?" Yugi jumped down to the platform. "What are you doing here?"

"I mean shouldn't you be at school?" The second I said that, a shadow of dread fell over my face. Yugi and I were supposed to be at school too… I mean, Yugi and _Roxy_. And if Roxy found out that I made her **this** late to school… _She'll kill me! _I sat down on the floor, pulling my knees close to my chest, a gloomy aura surrounding me. "She's going to kill me…" I muttered half-heartedly and sighed. "Or make my life miserable…"

Ryou and Yugi sweatdropped, asking, "Who's going to kill you?" When I ignored their question, they kinda went to talking to each other, almost as if I didn't exist. That only made me feel worse, and the aura around me darkened.

"Anyway, I heard from Tea what happened, and I tried to get here as fast as I could." Ryou explained, as him and Yugi started gathering up the pieces on the ground. Ryou handed Yugi the pieces he had gathered.

Yugi smiled sadly at all the gold pieces in his hands. "It took me eight years to solve the Puzzle the first time. But, I'll put it together, even if it takes me ten years!"

Ryou nodded, clearly admired at Yugi's determination. "Well, I'm off to school. Good luck with putting the Puzzle together." And with that, Ryou left.

Yugi sighed. "Well, I'll need to get my Puzzle's chain off of that bolt first…" The chain was tacked into a wall. Before either of us could act, though, I heard Keith yelling again. I sighed, standing up.

The blonde looked crazed again, yelling at some unknown person 'to get out of his head.' He picked up a metallic pipe off the ground, and started to swing at the air with it, still yelling.

"Keith, stop!" I jumped off the platform, and tried to get close enough to Keith to try to reason with him, but he only continued to swing at the air. One of the swings almost hit my shoulder. I backed up and grit my teeth. There was no way I could get him to calm down…

Then, Keith swung, and the pipe hit one of the controls on some machinery. Sparks flew from the impact, and wires broke. The sparks showered over tanks of gasoline, that exploded into hot flames.

In the middle of the chaos, Keith had run away, and the fire was spreading around quickly, around the dueling platform.

I looked towards Yugi, a plan formulating in my head. "Alright, you try to put the Puzzle together, and I'll try to pull the bolt out. If the fire becomes too overwhelming, then you run out of here, alright?" Yugi looked like he was about to argue, but I shot him a pleading look. "I promise I'll get the Puzzle out of here if that happens, ok?"

Yugi sighed. "Fine."

The two of us got to work. He tried to put the Puzzle together as quickly as he could, while I tried to get the bolt out. But nothing seemed to work for me. When Yugi finished his job, the two of us tried prying the bolt out together, but with no luck. The heat in the warehouse increased, and our breathing was growing heavy.

Yugi's eyes shut as he drifted off to unconsciousness; he was too overwhelmed by the heat. But even so, he had his hands gripped tightly on the Puzzle

I wasn't much better myself. I gave one more futile tug at the bolt, before collapsing on the ground, exhausted. Before I was going to shut my eyes, though, I heard a crumbling sound, and I jerked awake.

A metal column was about to topple right onto me and Yugi. With the last of my remaining strength, I pushed Yugi out of the way, and tried to get away as well.

Yugi was alright, but, my left arm was caught beneath the column.

The metal grew hot from the flames, and I winced at both the pain of my arm being crushed and the feeling of having my arm being burned. But in the end, my fatigue took over, and I shut my eyes, muttering. "But, I made a promise to Yugi… The Puzzle…"

_

* * *

_

-Narrator-

Phoenix was thrown against a wall, and slowly slid down it until she landed softly on the ground. She was a bit bruised up, but didn't suffer any fatal wounds.

Grey, save for the scar near her eye with a bit of dried blood around it, was perfectly fine. The falcon's eyes gleamed with malice, and she was ready to deliver the final blow, that would end the battle.

But something stopped the falcon. There was a loud flutter of wings, and Grey chuckled darkly. _"Looks like all of your little friends are here."_ Phoenix's flock of birds had arrived, all looking ready to strike at Grey.

"_Wait!"_ Phoenix yelled, and the rest of the birds blinked in surprise, including Grey. _"This is my fight. Whether I lose or not, it's my fault. The rest of you stay out of this."_ The flock grudgingly didn't interfere, but glared at the falcon.

Grey chuckled once more. _"Then all of your friends are going to witness you die."_ The falcon began to dive towards Phoenix, but again she was stopped.

A loud sound of a car's horn pierced the air, causing all the birds to look. A tiny, white car was speeding down the narrow alleyway, towards the wall that Grey and Phoenix were near. Both birds quickly flew out of the way, just before the car crashed into the brick wall.

The front of the car was distorted into an unrecognizable form from the collision but the wall seemed to have not been damaged in the least.

All the birds blinked, waiting to see if the passenger/passengers were still alive. That even made Grey and Phoenix pause their fight for the time being, for they were both curious as well.

Inside the car, sitting in the driver's seat, the person, 'Dusk', groaned, and started banging his head against the steering wheel. Surprisingly, the inside of the car was perfectly fine. "AH, DAMN IT! The world fucking hates me! Gees, all I wanted was to get away from those stupid, idiotic people chasing me!"

In the seat next to him, though most people couldn't have seen it, there was a spirit. The spirit rolled his eyes, and sighed. '_And you broke your New Year's Resolution, __**again**__. You said you wouldn't curse, for just one week in the entire year. And anyway, the car crashing isn't a surprise, I mean you've done it a hundred times before, right?'_

"Shut the fuck up. You don't have to rub it in my face." Dusk muttered. He pushed the car door open and stepped out. And when he did, he almost had a heart attack. Gulping, he looked at all the birds that peer curiously at him. The curiosity quickly turned to menace, though.

None of the birds could tell who the man that stepped out of the car was. He was wearing a bright neon green hoodie, with the hood up, so that his eyes were hidden from view. But the person gave off a sort of dark aura that the birds didn't like.

'_What's the matter?'_ The spirit asked, blinking in confusion at all the birds gathered around the car.

'_Um, ever since I was a little kid, birds have had an… Irrational hatred towards me.'_ Dusk looked around nervously at all the glaring birds.

'_Ah, that might be partly my fault… Birds have a certain... Grudge against me. It's pretty complicated, but they hate my guts.'_ The spirit said casually.

Before Dusk could start to argue with the spirit, Grey started attacking Dusk, clawing and pecking at his head.

"Ow, what the hell?" Dusk did his best to cover his head with one hand and arm, while he tried to search his pocket for something. His gloved fingers carefully grabbed the object, and pulled it out of his pocket. He quickly chucked it at Grey, and the thing struck the falcon's left wing. Grey only blinked for one second, before dropping onto the ground motionless. "STRRRIIIIIIKE!" Dusk punched his fist into the air enthusiastically.

The rest of the birds, especially Phoenix were shocked. _Grey was dead?_

"Alright," Dusk pulled out an identical item to the one he had thrown at Grey from his pocket. It was a tiny dart. "The rest of you birds shouldn't try to attack me, or I'll kill the rest of you too. I have a bunch of these darts, with poison dart frog poison on 'em. The poison kills a bird instantly, and can kill a tiger in about 5 minutes."

The spirit's jaw dropped. _'When did you get poison from a poison dart frog?'_

'_When I visited the beach-'_

'_BEACHES HAVE POISON DART FROGS?'_

Dusk ignored the question, and slowly started walking out of the alley, looking back to see if the birds would pursue him. But to his surprise, all the birds were gone, save for the falcon that lay dead on the ground.

"Oh, and no. No beaches that I know of, anyway." Dusk smiled, and started running off into a different alley, careful to make his footsteps as silent as possible.

'_Then how did you manage to…?'_ The spirit asked, still confused.

"There's a person that I know… Who happened to be interested in poisons, weapons, and all that good stuff, so…" Dusk said simply.

'_Everyone you happen to know is some sort of weird messed up nutcase like you.'_ The spirit sighed._ 'I've known you for so long, but I still don't know everything about you-' _Then he stiffened.

"What's the matter? Is someone tailing us or something?"Dusk asked, still continuing to run.

'_It's nothing, I was just imagining things…' _The spirit turned towards the direction where puffs of smoke were rising into the air, and murmured so quietly that not even Dusk could hear. '_Invoke the element… __**Your**__ element.'_

_

* * *

_

-R-

I woke up at the sudden pain from the top of my head. It was a familiar feeling; a bird pecking at my head… Wait, that means…!

"Phoenix!" I shouted, slightly relieved. The bird flew around, and dropped something near my right hand, the one that could still move. It was the Bird's Eye… I looked at Phoenix. "Hurry and leave, now. I'll be fine." Phoenix seemed reluctant, but flew away anyway.

I looked around at the overall situation. Yugi was unconscious, I could barely stay awake, and the warehouse was falling apart, as the flames were engulfing everything. _There's no hope left… I'm so sorry Yugi… I couldn't keep my promise…_

'_Invoke the element… __**Your**__ element.'_ Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head. It sounded so familiar…

'_What do you mean? Who are you?'_ I asked, but the voice had disappeared.

I forced my drooping eyes to stay open, and I subconsciously reached for the Bird's Eye with my right hand. I grasped it with the tips of my fingers, before muttering. "Invocation…"

And I slowly shut my eyes, feeling the heat of the flames licking at my face.

* * *

-_Narrator-_

Joey, Tristan, and Tea arrived in front of the warehouse, and suddenly, the smoke that was coming from it disappeared. The three blinked in confusion, but shook it off. Their friends were still trapped in there, they didn't have any time to waste!

Joey and Tristan tried to open the door by pulling on the door handle, but the door didn't budge. So the two boys kicked the door to break it down instead. When the door finally collapsed, they peered into the warehouse and their eyes widened in shock.

**

* * *

**

Author's Note:

**Uh… Well, apparently that voice Dusk keeps hearing and talking to is a spirit… I thought I'd reveal that right now… And I'll say this; Dusk is neither Bakura nor Marik. So have fun guessing!**

**Gees, I hate writing cliff hangers, but I couldn't really finish writing the rest today… Anyway, thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated. ^^**


	5. Chapter 4 Hospital and Dreams

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Mwahaha! I am back! Agh, to tell you the truth, I'm not that happy today… A few family things are going on and I'm caught in the middle of it… So what do I do? I write fanfiction. xD Hopefully my mood won't affect how my writing is… So enjoy.**

**Chapter 4- Hospital and Dreams**

_-R-_

"Ow!" I winced when I felt the familiar pecking at my head. I rubbed the bump that started to form at the top of my head and glared at the bird responsible for it. "Gees Phoenix, what are you, my live painful alarm clock? Can't you just chirp a sort of tune or something to wake me up?"

The bird made a sound similar to chuckling, and flew around the perimeter of the room, before she disappeared out a window.

I blinked and finally noticed that I was sitting upright in a hospital bed, in a well… Hospital.

_Why am I here? I don' really remember what happened…_ I scratched my head with my left hand and cringed when I had to raise my bandaged arm up… _Wait bandaged? _Sure enough, my left arm and hand was wrapped up with white bandages. _Ugh, what the heck happened? The last thing I recall was… Uh… Walking to school… And then everything after that is all a blur…_

"Stupid, stupid me! Why can't I remember anything?" I sighed exasperatedly. "Curse all the flipping flying fish-"

"Hey, Rox," I heard a voice, that sounded like he was trying to hold in a fit of giggles. "Can we come in?"

"Err… Sure." My face turned slightly pink, a bit embarrassed that someone heard my little rant.

The door creaked open, and the gang stepped in, all covering their mouths, trying to hold in their giggles. Correction, Joey and Tristan were already sniggering. At least Tea and Yugi were trying…

"Alright already, just laugh!" I threw my hands in the air out of frustration, and the others burst out in laughter while I sighed, and waited for them calm down. When they finally did, I asked. "So, what happened? Did I faint during the play or something?"

The others exchanged looks, before Yugi cleared his throat. "Err… Don't you remember? Bandit Keith, the warehouse?"

The second he said that, everything came pouring back in a wave of memories, and I turned pale. "S-So y-you're saying th-that the t-two of us didn't even get to school? We missed the play?"

The others nodded, and Joey started to say, "But-"

I cut him off when I started wailing. "AHHH! She's going to kill me! I'm never going to see the light of day again! I'm never going to be pecked at by Phoenix, and I'm never going to-"

Everyone sweat dropped, and Yugi asked. "You mentioned 'she' before in the warehouse too. Who are you talking about?"

"Roxy! She told me to get her to school on time, but I didn't, and now she's going to- Uh… Whoops…" I gulped, as the others shot me looks of suspicion and confusion. _Dang, I let it slip! I forgot that they don't know that I exist… _"Err… Hi?" I mentally kicked myself. _That's the best you can come up with?_

I cleared my throat. "Uh… It might be kinda late to say this… But I'm not really Roxy-"

"Then who are you, and what did you do with Rox?" Tristan and Joey yelled, glaring and holding fists up to my face. I let out a tiny squeak, and held up my hands in front of my face. Tea and Yugi had to drag the two of them away.

Tea sighed. "Sorry about these two, they're a bit-"

"Reckless? Eager to rush into something without thinking?" I asked, while the others blinked, and I realized that the thought that I didn't even know any of them. "Even if I'm not Roxy, it doesn't mean that I don't know you guys. I'm as much of friends with you guys as Roxy is, even though she probably won't admit it."

"Wait, then where's Roxy?" Yugi asked.

"Well…" I cupped the Hourglass in my hands. "In the Hourglass…" I sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain things to the gang. "Yugi, a spirit dwells inside your Millennium Puzzle, right?" Yugi nodded. "Well, I'm the spirit from the Millennium Hourglass. I don't really remember anything at all about myself… Not my name, my family, anything… But you guys can call me R."

"Wait, then how long have you known us?" Tristan asked.

"Ever since Roxy met you guys, I suppose-"

"Then how come she never told us about you?" Tristan seemed angry, and I don't really blame him. I mean, Roxy's been lying to them for a long time…

I averted my gaze, because I couldn't meet his eyes. "Roxy's never really trusted anyone, including me. But when she finally did trust you guys, she was afraid, that if she told you, you'd be really mad at her for lying and leave her alone. And the times she actually had the courage to tell you, well… The timing was never right." I sighed. "Well, I'm apologizing for the both of us. I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier."

"So all those times Roxy seemed to change personalities and had blue eyes… That was you?" Joey realized, and I nodded.

"Well, are you guys angry at the two of us?" I asked the dreaded question, and prepared myself for the worst, looking down at my hands. It was silent for a while.

"Are you joking?" I looked up to find the others smiling.

"Sure, we might have been a bit offended that you didn't tell us that earlier- OW!" Joey yelped when Tea whacked him on the head. The two started to argue, and somehow Tristan joined in as well.

"What Joey means to say, is that you should have told us earlier, but we're not holding a grudge against you and Roxy." Yugi sweat dropped at the rest of them yelling at each other. "We're not mad at you guys at all. Anyway, I still have to thank you for saving me back there in the warehouse."

I blinked and pointed at myself. "Me? I thought I fainted…"

"Oh, I forgot to ask you about it, but did you remember what you did to stop the fire?" Yugi asked and I shook my head. "Err, well you did something and the whole place uh… Froze… Everything was covered in ice."

"Excuse me?" My jaw dropped. "What do you mean covered in ice?"

"Exactly what I said, everything had a layer of ice over it, including me and you." Yugi recalled. "Joey and Tristan got the two of us out, and you were unconscious for the rest of yesterday. Everyone was worried sick about you."

"Oh… I'm sorry for making you all worry… But uh… The ice… I remember taking the Bird's Eye and saying something… Like 'invocation'… Wait, where's the Bird's Eye?" I started to panic.

"Don't worry about it, we put it in your backpack. Surprisingly, your bag was unscathed…" He handed my backpack back to me. "And the play's postponed for a while, due to your injury. The nurse said your arm was pretty badly burned, and try not to, fall on it or let people poke it."

"Thanks, Yugi…" I jumped down from the bed. "But I feel as good as new! Group hug!"

"R, wait-" Yugi tried to protest, but didn't have a chance to finish talking.

I even dragged the arguing Tea, Tristan, and Joey into the hug. "Well, everyone's ok, and that's all that matters!"

The others sweat dropped, and chorused, "Yep, you are definitely not Roxy."

I smiled inwardly towards myself. I had never told Roxy, but every time someone called me 'Roxanna' or a nickname for her, I felt a pang of loneliness. Nobody had acknowledged me as a different person, other than Roxy… And for the first time now, someone did.

But my happiness faded when I remembered what 'Keith' had said.

I was cursed.

And the worst part was, I believed him.

_

* * *

_

-Roxanna-

I went home that day, and the first thing I did was thank R. To tell the truth, I would have never spoken about her to the others…

The next thing I did was bang my head against the wall for believing that R would get me to school on time.

Then I went into my room, and sat on the bed while listening to R talk about the warehouse incident. I occasionally commented about something, and was shocked about the ice and her being cursed. But it wasn't long before I dozed off.

_~Dream~_

_I was standing in my dream as a spirit, observing the scene. A very familiar scene, that I wanted to look away from. But I couldn't. So I helplessly watched._

_A car was driving out of the forest, and I saw all the panicked looks on all the passenger's faces. Especially the younger me. She looked terrified._

_The car was driving nearer towards the cliff. It was going to drive right off. I knew that. I'd been in this dream millions of times before. I've actually been there in real life…_

"_Ryan!" The younger me yelled, as she was pushed out the car door, by her older brother. She skidded across the dusty ground, her right arm bleeding badly from her arm scraping against the ground. _

_The car fell over the edge of the cliff, sending Ryan, and her parents plunging down along with it._

_She was crying, from the pain of the wound, from the pain of losing her family._

_Then the scene disappeared, and everything around me was dark._

_Then, the younger Ryan, that died that day, appeared in front of me, glaring at me with hatred. "If I didn't have to push you out of the car, I'd be the one alive, not you!" He spat, and I cringed. "Maybe mom and dad would still be ok too! It's all your fault!"_

_It's all my fault… Those words echoed around in my head._

"_I hate you!" Ryan yelled, and I flinched, close to breaking down in tears. I would have tried to defend myself, but my voice was gone. I couldn't speak._

"_You know, it's all your fault that your adoptive dad died too, isn't it?" Ryan asked. "Lucifer was mad at __**you**__, not him. If Professor Night never adopted you, he would have still been alive, wouldn't he? You're a curse, that's what you are! You bring nothing but bad luck to everyone!"_

_And my voice suddenly came back. "No, that's not true! Lucifer killed my adoptive dad, and the car was broken, it's not my fault! None of it's my fault!"_

"_You're just coming up with excuses." Ryan smirked. "In the end, it's all because of you that all your loved ones suffer." After that, he continued to taunt me, repeating 'It's your fault…', over and over again._

"_SHUT UP!" I yelled, covering my ears with my hands as the tears escaped my shut eyes, but I could still hear Ryan's voice, over and over again…_

* * *

I sat up on my bed, gasping for air. "It's only a dream…" I muttered to myself.

But I couldn't shake that feeling of guilt off of myself.

That dream… No, nightmare. I've seen it so many times… But, after each time, my heart still ached…

"I wonder…" I murmured. "Does Ryan really hate me for being alive, and not him? Does my adoptive dad blame me for his death?"

Guilt was starting to consume me.

That dreaded feeling… I had felt so guilty about everything. Maybe that dream Ryan was right… Everyone was suffering because of me.

"What if… What if, that mind controller is after Yugi… And it's my fault?" I buried my face in my hands, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

_Maybe it's better if I stay away from the others… Maybe I should keep my distance from R too…_

I glanced down at the hourglass around my neck.

_Maybe if I chuck this out a window…_

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

… **I don't know about you, but that was depressing! And sorry about this being so short… And sorry about the cliff hanger again… Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 5 Apologize, You Stubborn!

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Not much in a mood to write… But my friend's pestering me every 5 hours about writing, no joke. xD So hope the chapter is ok.**

**And, I am warning all of you readers now. Later seasons will contain: tragedy (oh, a LOT of it) and suspense. And probably violence, so if you don't like any of that, I suggest you run away now, while you have the chance. The rest of you that enjoy that stuff, continue reading, if you want to~**

**Chapter 5- Apologize, You Stubborn…!**

_-Narrator-_

R came out of the Hourglass after hearing some loud crashing noises. She rubbed her eyes, still in spirit form, and yawned. _'Hey, Roxy, what did you do, you woke me up and I was having such a good dream… You better have a good reason for this- Roxy, are you ok? What the heck happened?"_

The entire room was a mess. A chair had fallen onto one of its sides; Roxy's backpack was open and on the floor with its contents all scattered around; and, papers, books, and other things were all over the floor as well. Even a lamp had toppled over. In the middle of the room floor, Roxy was lying on the floor with her face down and an open book was on the back of her head.

She sounded like she was crying.

'_Roxy! You're not hurt are you?' _The panic in R's voice started to rise, and the sobbing just grew louder.

Roxy threw the book on her head aside, and turned around so that her face was facing R. Tears were falling from her eyes, and she was… Laughing?

R blinked, confused, while Roxy continued to giggle uncontrolably.

'… _ROXY, YOU FLIPPING FLYING FISH, I WORRIED ABOUT YOU, AND YOU WERE LAUGHING THE ENTIRE TIME?' _R seemed to finally grasp the situation and looked like she was about to explode with rage, but Roxy didn't seem the least bit fazed out R's outburst.

Roxy wiped her tears away, as her giggles started to subside. "Oh… I'm sorry for making you worry, but that was just so funny to me…" In one hand, she was clutching the Hourglass, and in the other, a piece of paper.

'_What's so funny?'_ R asked, her anger quickly disappearing.

"Well, I know you're going to yell at me for this too, but I had this one dream. And because of that, I had this _crazy _feeling that Ryan blamed me for his death and that everyone suffered 'cause they were around me. So," Roxy looked a little uncomfortable and muttered the last bit. "I almost threw the Hourglass out the window 'cause I thought I might be making you suffer too…"

It was silent in the room for a moment. Very awkward silence. Roxy just waited for R to yell at her.

R sighed, and glared at Roxy. _'… You idiot,' _Roxanna anime fell, but R continued talking anyway. _'Gees, do I even look like I'm suffering? I'm more happy-go-lucky than you are! The only reason I suffer is because a few moments ago, you were being a complete idiot for even thinking about throwing me and the Hourglass away!'_

"Gees, that makes me feel _so_ much better…"Roxanna muttered sarcastically while she put the Hourglass back around her neck. But in reality, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. "But I didn't get to the funny part yet. When I was about to chuck that thing, I accidentally tripped, and knocked everything down… Hence, this is what my room looks like," Roxanna motioned at the mess on the floor. "My backpack fell open, and that present I found yesterday fell out. So I opened it and found this…" Roxy showed R the paper that Roxy was holding.

R blinked, and tilted her head. _'What's this?'_

Roxanna looked at R with disbelief. "Can't you tell? It's Altair!"

R looked at the picture once more. _'Just looks like a bunch of random scribbles to me… It's even worse than how you draw!'_

Roxy glared at R. "I guess horrible artists band together. But that's the funny part… Whoever drew this is a worse artist than I am!" She started to snicker while R anime sweat dropped.

'_Worse than the artist who drew a book and it looked like a really messed up boulder? Not to mention also drawing a house that looked like an overweight lizard? REALLY, REALLY overweight lizard?'_

"Shut up."

* * *

Roxy had straightened up the room, and the last thing she had to put away was that white present box, closed shut with its lid. It sat there on the floor, and right next to it was the satin green ribbon that was once tied around the box.

'_Was that awfully drawn picture the only thing in that box?' _R asked.

Roxanna shrugged. "That was the thing at the top, and was really the only thing I saw… I think there was something else… Maybe. But maybe I shouldn't touch it… I mean it could be someone else's-"

R interrupted her. _'Ok, I am going to sound like a horrible role model, but you already opened it once, so you might as well just see what else is inside.'_

"You never were a role model, anyway." Roxanna muttered, luckily for her, R didn't hear. But she did take R's advice, and lifted the lid off of the box. There was a small item wrapped in a delicate white cloth. Roxy carefully picked the cloth along with the item, and placed it in her palm. Then she lifted the cloth away, and gasped softly.

Sitting in her palm was a necklace with a key as a charm, strung around a silver string. The key was made of some kind of silver metal. The bow of the key was shaped in a heart, and a few parts of the key's teeth had some sort of tiny green gems (maybe emerald?) dotted all over.

'_Who knew you were a sucker for jewelry?' _R mused, looking over Roxy's shoulder.

Roxanna glared back at R. "Gees, I'm just surprised is all! Anyway, it's not mine… I shouldn't have opened it."

Roxy was about to wrap the necklace back up with the cloth, when R stopped her. _'Wait, look at the back of the key first.' _

"Huh? Ok…" Roxy flipped the key to look at the back, and this time she was even more surprised. Engraved neatly in cursive onto the metal, was the name: Roxanna. "Maybe there's another Roxanna nearby? I mean, I know my name isn't supposed to be common but still…"

R sighed exasperatedly. _'It's. Yours. Stop worrying about it already!'_

"… I'll just hold onto the stuff for now. But if someone comes by and asks for it, I'm returning it." Roxy nodded, and looked back in the box. This time, her eyes widened once more. "R, this is **definitely **not for me. Nobody would get me this stuff." Roxy pulled out the last of the contents from the box.

A cell phone, a cell phone charger, and a folded piece of paper.

'_So?' _R asked, not really getting things.

"So, I don't even need a cell phone! I don't call anyone, I don't text anyone, the phone in the book store's enough. Paying the cell phone bill's going to be a pain…" Roxanna muttered, and set the cell phone and its charger aside.

Then she opened up the paper. It was a note. Roxy started to scan her eyes across the words, and read it aloud.

"_**Hi, I'm hoping this reaches you, Roxy. Well, don't worry about the phone bill, I'm paying it for you.**__" _After this, she paused, and seemed to look very annoyed. "Gees, who does this person think they are? I don't need charity!"

'_You know, you could be nicer… They're helping you out, you know…' _R sighed. Roxy didn't really accept help that much, especially if she doesn't know who it is that's helping her.

"Ah, well, I'll keep reading the rest… _**Anyway, Happy Late/Early Birthday! (Depends on when you get the presents… I'm really sorry if it's late.)**_" Roxanna seemed really surprised now.

'_Hey! You never told me it was your birthday!' _R pouted, but then looked a little worried. '_Now that I think about it… We've never really celebrated your birthday, did we? When's your birthday, anyway?'_

Roxanna looked away. "You know what's sad? I… Forgot… I mean I probably knew before, a few years ago, but it's been like five years since I've actually had my birthday celebrated… I just don't remember anymore…"

'_Oh… Well, then when we have time, why not invite the others over, and just have some fun and call it a birthday party? Just to make up for all those years we didn't?' _R suggested.

"Nah, its ok… Thanks for thinking about me though…" Roxy turned back to read the rest of the letter silently, to avoid any more pauses to comment every few sentences. When she finished, Roxanna held the note out in front of her with both hands, and tore the paper to pieces. She let the shredded paper float to the ground. "Oh great, I'll have to throw that out later…"

'_What are you doing?' _R asked, her eyes wide with shock.

"Cleaning up the mess." Roxy replied, and picked up the tiny bits of paper, and tossing them into a trash can.

'_That's not what I mean!' _R sighed. '_Why did you tear the note up?'_

"No reason. I just felt like shredding paper was all." Roxanna lied. Then she looked towards the clock on her room wall. "Ugh, it's only nine at night and I don't feel sleepy at all…"

'_Which reminds me, I wanted to try something… Get the Bird's Eye out, and try that 'Invocation' thingy I did last time. I wanna see what it does, since I fainted the last time and forgot.' _R suddenly said.

"Err… Sure?" Roxanna was surprised at the sudden command, but complied with it. She pulled the item out of her back pack, and said, "Invocation."

To both her and R's surprise, the Bird's Eye emitted a glow that blinded the both of them. After it dimmed, instead of the Eye, held in Roxy's hand was a gold scepter. At the top of the scepter was a gold bird, carved to look like it was just about to take off from the ground. The bird's eyes were clear crystals, looking a bit rainbow in some parts because of the light shining on it from the lamp. The bottom of the scepter had a deadly sharp metal blade.

'_Wow, that's so coooool!' _R started jumping around the room, in an annoyingly cheerful mood.

"I have to be careful that I don't poke myself with that knife at the bottom…" Roxanna eyed the blade cautiously. Then she started twirling around the scepter like a baton. "I don't get how this thing got that whole warehouse covered in ice though- AHHH!"

The bird's crystal eyes radiated with a dull blue light, and a patch of the floor had been frozen solid. Then just as quickly as the ice appeared, it vanished.

'_Like that.' _R chuckled. '_I guess we'll need some practice before we_ _can actually control it though… Say, if you're not tired at all, you should go practice a little.'_

"I guess I should… But I have something else to do… Maybe I'll practice on the way." Roxanna tossed the key necklace and the cell phone into her back pack. Then she slung her bag over her shoulder, with the scepter still in her hand, and walked down the stairs.

'_What are you doing?' _R asked.

"Delivering books. See, I'm away at school for part of the day. During that time, I just put up a piece of paper telling the customer to write down their address and the book/books they want. Then they just slide the money under the door. When I get the time, or I don't feel like doing homework, I just go and bike over to their house, and drop the books over at their house." Roxanna replied. "It's not the most flawless plan, but that's the best I can do for now… I'm surprised you haven't noticed that I ride my bike at least for two hours each day carrying a whole thing of books."

'_I just try not to pry into your private life too much… Cause I'm your friend~ And I'm giving you a little privacy is all.' _R shrugged.

Roxanna walked down the last of the stairs and quickly walked over to the counter. Then she picked up a stack of books from the floor, and stuffed them into her book bag. "I don't get it."

'_Get what?' _R asked, while skipping around lazily.

"I don't get how you can be so… Happy all the time. I mean, you were just told that you're cursed and you don't remember anything about yourself. Don't you worry at all about anything?" Roxanna muttered, and stepped out of the shop, locking it behind her.

'… _Ah, well, I guess I did worry for a little bit… But worrying about things too much will only make it worse. Besides, if I don't remember my past, it's best not to dwell on it. Even if I am really cursed… Who cares?' _R shrugged, still looking really carefree. _'Some things are best forgotten, after all.'_

Roxanna had taken the bike from behind the shop, and quickly sat on the seat, and started pedaling towards her destination. The cool night breeze blew against her skin, making her shiver and cursing in her head for not bringing a jacket. "You're so lucky you don't need to worry over anything…"

In truth, Roxanna didn't really feel like practicing controlling the scepter, or to deliver books. She only wanted to do those things to take her mind off things.

Because after reading that letter, that weight on her shoulders returned.

_

* * *

_

-Roxanna-

"But I don't want to go to school…" I muttered, while rubbing my eyes. I opened one eye tiredly and yawned. I had spent all night delivering, and then freezing a playground into an ice sculpture. Probably the best form of art I've ever created. That had worn me out. But that wasn't why I didn't want to go to school, though…

'_Awww, school's not that bad… You just got to open up to it a little more!' _R smiled, while I groaned. _'Oh, and I still don't get it! If it's Domino High school, why hasn't it been crushed by another school, or crushed a school yet? I mean-'_

I groaned once more. "NO, NOT THE DOMINO SPEECH AGAIN!" I slid on my shoes, slung my back pack over my shoulder and ran out of the shop, and locked the door behind me. I didn't even have any breakfast.

But instead of the usual route I took going to school (which was a longer one), I decided to take a short cut.

R must have noticed, because she stopped her 'Domino Speech' and remained silent for the remainder of the walk towards school. I was thankful that she didn't pry into why I decided to take a different path today. But maybe I'd have to go this way for a while. Better yet, maybe I should transfer to a different school.

From the second I arrived at school, I was avoiding the gang. Whenever they'd try to talk to me during class, I found an excuse to get out of class or just plain ignored them. So I hadn't spoken to any of them almost all day, and it seemed to be working. That was, until I was walking to the class I had before lunch.

"Roxy! Wait up!" Yugi was calling my name, and trying to catch up with me.

I grit my teeth and started to pick up my pace, lacing my way through the crowds of students. _Please, just walk away…! Leave me alone already…_

"Roxy, are you feeling ok?" Yugi managed to get right next to me, and he didn't even seemed to have broke a sweat. Me on the other hand, felt so tired. Maybe it was because of staying up so late yesterday… Whatever the reason, my vision seemed to be swirling around, the slightest bit.

Even Yugi's voice seemed so distant. All I could do was focus and walk forward to keep from fainting right then and there. But all the noise from the conversations around me only made me feel worse, and even more nauseas.

"Shut up." I blurted, the words not really aimed at anyone in particular.

But I guess Yugi must have thought that I was talking to him. But he didn't really seem mad, as he was shocked. "… Roxy, are you sure you're alright? You look pale, maybe you should go visit the nurse-"

"I'm fine." I managed to speak those two words, but even that took a lot of energy.

Yugi didn't seem convinced. "But you-"

"I told you I'm fine!" I all of a sudden just exploded, and whirled around to face Yugi, glaring at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why can't you just fucking leave me alone? You know, I wish you, Joey, Tristan, Tea,_ everyone_ would just disappear! I hate all of you!"

When I realized what I had said, I was horror stricken, but it was too late. Yugi's face showed how hurt he was, before he forced a fake smile. "Alright, I guess I've got to go to class then… Sorry for bother you." He turned towards the opposite direction, weaving through the crowd, who seemed to oblivious to my earlier yelling.

"Yugi, wait, I didn't-" I went to run after him, but at the first step I tried to take, the whole world spun around in fast circles in front of my eyes. My fatigue finally took its toll on me. Slowly, my spinning vision turned blurrier, darker. My foot slipped, and I fell back, everything around me turning pitch black as I slowly shut my eyes. A sudden pain shot up my left arm.

All around me, I heard yelling, gasping. Maybe a few people yelling my name, but most of the uttered words were unclear.

'… _You idiot.' _Those were the only clear words I heard before drifting into unconsciousness. They were from R, who had stayed so silent almost all day.

* * *

My eyes slowly slid open, as I let out a weak moan that sounded more like a tiny squeak. The light wasn't super bright, so I didn't have the worry of getting blinded first thing when I woke up…

I recalled what happened before I woke up, and mentally started to whack myself with a baseball bat. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, me! Why did I take out all my anger on Yugi? All he was trying to do was to see if I was ok! And I just…_ I probably deserved to faint back there. No, I definitely deserved that…

I looked around my surroundings, and found myself in a place similar to that of the hospital that R was in before, and I was lying in a bed. _Must be the school nurse's office…_

When I tried to sit up, a jolt of pain shot up my left arm, the bandaged arm and I winced. _I must have hit my arm when I fell earlier… Wait, what time is it?_

I scanned the room for a clock and groaned. It was almost time for lunch. I'm going to miss an entire class! Usually, I'd be delighted at the prospect of skipping any class, but I didn't want to have to make up any more work than I have to already…

"Oh, you're awake?" A kind looking woman, walked in through a door. Probably the nurse. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah." I nodded, and tried to get off the bed, but collapsed back down, due to weariness. My sudden surge of energy had disappeared, leaving me feeling weak and tired again.

The nurse chuckled. "Don't strain yourself. You looked so pale and weak when Yugi brought you in here. Just go back to class when you feel like it, alright?"

"Sure." I nodded, but I felt a bit… No, really guilty. Yugi, even after I said all those mean things to him, brought me here…

The nurse quickly left the room, and I sighed. Just as quickly as she disappeared, someone else arrived. Oh, and she was definitely not as happy as the nurse had been.

'… _If I were actually human, I would slap you across the face right now,' _R looked so mad, I thought she might just turn into a lion and shred me to pieces. _'So be glad I'm a spirit!'_

And that's when my stubborn, 'I'm-always-right' mode kicked in. "Hey, it's not my fault! Yugi just had to keep talking to me, when it's obvious that I want to be left alone! I don't need to apologize to him-"

R cut me off. _'But it's not his fault! It's you! You just had to believe whoever the idiot that wrote that letter was! I-' _

This time, I interrupted her. "Wait, how did you know what that letter said? You never finished reading it!"

R looked away, looking a bit embarrassed and maybe guilty. _'Alright, I admit, I peeked at your memories…'_

"Look, I don't care why you even _thought_ that it was alright to just lookthrough any of my memories!" I glared at her with so much fury, even I was surprised. There were just some things that I keep locked up, forgotten, inside my own head, that I don't want anyone to look at or remember, not even myself. The thought that R might have glimpsed at one of those just angered me to no end.

'_Hey_, _I know you're upset, but when you didn't seem normal today, that's what I did.' _R turned back to me, this time, it was her that was angry. _'Seriously? Those last few sentences were all it took to make you that scared? Now, I'll forgive you for getting scared, but do you know how much you've worried everyone today?' _

I knew. The others must have noticed how frustrated I was today. But still, somehow I couldn't admit it out loud. "It's not my fault if they have to worry about me. And anyway, if I weren't so tired, I would be fine right now-"

'_But it isn't that you're tired!'_ R suddenly just exploded._ 'You fainted today out of worry, fear, and whatever other emotions you were boxing up in you! And all day, you just ignored everyone that cared about you, that wanted to help you, including me! I was calling out to you the entire time, but you were blocking me out! I want you to forget about that letter, and go apologize to everyone. Now.' _She folded her arms, and waited for my response.

This was probably the first time that R had ever been this angry at me. I knew she was right. But still… I was still scared. And I think R could sense that. "**Oh, and by the way, I would be careful who you're friends with. You might just end up hurting them. **Those were those sentences that got to me, right?" I muttered.

That night, I still felt unstable, even after R half-convinced me that I wasn't causing anyone to suffer. But after reading that letter… I just started doubting myself so much and thought that staying away from everyone would probably be the best for all of us. But I only ended up hurting everyone even more.

"Fine… I'll go apologize…" I jumped off the bed, feeling strong enough to walk again. "But I think I'm going to say sorry to Yugi first. I mean, I said some pretty awful things to him."

R simply nodded and faded away, but not before casting me a worried look. She knew that I still hadn't shaken off those emotions from reading the letter yet.

* * *

I took in a shaky breath, and stepped out into the hallway, just in time to go to lunch. The nurse's room was just before the lunchroom, so a stream of kids walked by, laughing and running towards lunch.

But out of everyone, I was looking for someone in particular, and it wasn't that hard to spot him. His hair stood out, but most people would find searching for short people in a large crowd, hard. Very hard. Who knows, maybe it's just easy for me 'cause I'm short too. Hey, short people unite.

Surprisingly, Yugi was walking alone and slower than everyone else around him, holding his packed lunch in one hand. He looked a bit depressed...

I made my way over to him, and tapped his shoulder, still nervous. I wasn't really good when it came to apologies or understanding people's feelings at all, so I had a really bad feeling I was going to mess up really bad. How bad can I mess up a simple 'I'm sorry'? Trust me, really bad.

He turned around, and I saw that look of hurt he had before flash across his face. Then he forced another smile. Yugi looked as if he was struggling on what to say to me.

I didn't give him the chance to talk though. "Meet me up on the roof." With that simple statement, I turned on my heel and walked away, making my way to the school roof.

* * *

By the time Yugi got to the roof, I had been sitting there for a while, gazing out towards the horizon full of buildings. The wind was nice and warm today, but the sun's rays were barely shining through the cloudy sky. It was a nice balance of weather.

Yugi sat next to me, but didn't say a word. It was just awkward silence between the two of us, as he kinda nibbled at his food. I lost my appetite today, so I just continued to enjoy the scenery.

And I finally mustered enough courage to talk. I turned my head away from Yugi, and quickly muttered. "Sorry."

Yugi seemed a little surprised. "Hmm? What did you say?"

"I said I was sorry." I hid my reddening face in between my knees. Earlier, I had felt bad for saying those things to him, but now… I just felt outright guilty. "I didn't mean to say all those things to you… I just kinda lost it… I'm sorry about saying all of that, and for not talking to you guys…" Silence fell once more. After that, I just waited for Yugi to yell at me or something.

"… Then can you tell me why you're so upset today?" Yugi asked.

This time I was surprised. I expected him to be mad, like most people probably would. But he… He didn't even say anything like that, and he's still worried about me. "… Sure. But can I ask you a few questions first? Well, really one…" He nodded. "Do you think that my brother, or anybody really blames me for anything? I mean if it weren't for me, Ryan would probably be alive right now…"

"… You're kidding, right?" Yugi asked, and I blinked. "Of course not. First of all, none of us, me, Joey, Tristan, or Tea are mad at you. We were just worried about you. And as for your brother, according to how you've described him, cares about you a lot. He wouldn't blame you for this. And anyway, he'd probably be heartbroken if he saw that you think that he might be blaming you for him dying. It's not your fault, it was an accident after all." He paused, to let everything he said sink in. "Was that what you were so worried about today?"

"… Yeah." I nodded. "Thanks, Yugi, I mean it." To hear someone else tell me that it wasn't my fault… It made me fell so much better. "Do you mind if we change to another subject now?"

"Sure, if you don't mind me asking, why do you like coming to the roof so much?" It was a random question, but it didn't really surprise me.

"Oh, hehe, roofs hold a lot of good memories to me… And a few bad ones. I used to sit up on the roof of my house with Ryan, and we'd look up at the stars while he told me ghost stories or we'd tell each other secrets. At the orphanage, I'd sit up on the roof and talk with a few of my friends, mostly…" I hesitated, but said his name anyway. "Lucifer and my other pretty good friend, Angel." Then I quickly added. "But never at the same time, again! I don't need to witness World War IV…"

"What happened to World War III? And who's Angel?" Yugi laughed.

"Well, Angel's a few years older than I am, but she's really sweet and nice… But she has this one nickname at the orphanage… 'Blood'…" I recalled, and I thought I saw Yugi shiver. "She earned the nickname, after everyone was convinced that she had these powers…"

"Powers?" Yugi seemed hesitant to ask.

"She could tell something about you, if she could taste one drop of your blood, but only one thing, and it would only work once a year. Sometimes it was personality, but there were other things like your past… Angel carried around a knife in her pocket, and she used that to slightly cut someone's skin. Everyone at the orphanage had their blood 'tasted' by her at one time or another." I explained, and saw Yugi pale a little. "And Angel absolutely hates Lucifer for no apparent reason. There's a rumor, that after tasting his blood, she saw something about him or something…" I shrugged.

"Did she ever tell you what it was?" Yugi was even more hesitant to ask this time.

I shuddered at the memory. "Err, I did ask her once, but she only laughed, and punched a hole in the wall next to me, saying 'Aww, Roxy, aren't you just sillyyyy~!'. When I asked Lucifer, he just changed the subject. So I don't know… But anyway, I don't know what Angel saw about me when she tasted my blood, but she took me on as her 'student'… Taught me how to fight, and throw knives. Lucifer taught me some other fighting things…

"So, anyway, one time I was talking to Angel on the roof, and then Lucifer somehow climbed up there too… Well, that's when World War III broke out, and it was basically a one-sided fight. Angel was throwing knives, punches, kicks, but mostly knives. Somehow she can fit like, a hundred of them in her pockets… But Lucifer was just blocking or dodging, so it wasn't before long that Angel had him pinned on the roof with knives. Since I was still friends with Lucifer back then, I broke the fight up, but it was really obvious who the winner was… Angel." I smiled.

"Ah well, your friend Angel sounds very interesting…" Yugi laughed nervously. "Where is she now?"

"Who knows?" I shrugged. "She got adopted before me, so I don't really know… But I wish I could talk to her again. I kinda miss that crazy girl." And then I sighed, half sadly, half happily. "You know, I guess that the car falling off the cliff wasn't such a bad thing after all… Aside from the fact that my family died because of it..."

Yugi looked confused. "Why not?"

"Hmm? Well, I would have never met Angel, Seto, Mokuba, or Lucifer if it weren't for that. Even if Lucifer's a jerk now, he was a real nice friend before… And I probably wouldn't have been friends with you guys either." I replied. I had to stop myself before I said '_And you guys are probably the best friends I'll ever meet.'_ That's what I wanted to say, but that would seem so out of character for me…

"Not necessarily," Yugi pointed out. "If your family was supposed to move to Domino, then you probably would have attended Domino High. So, we'd at least know each other, a little bit…"

"Really?" I didn't tell him there was another reason I wouldn't have been friends with any of them, even if I knew them. It was a little bit complicated to explain right now. But still, if Yugi were right, and my family did manage to still be alive right now…

_Then my family would be still alive, and maybe I'd know Yugi and the others… That would be a nice scenario… But, Fate's cruel… I just had to meet the gang after I suffered for so many years… _

But then again, if the car never fell off that cliff, I would have never met R, would I?

_I don't know what would be better anymore… Comparing two different lives and trying to choose a better one… That's really hard to do. I should stop thinking about this, after all, I can't choose, even if I really did prefer one over the other._

I hadn't noticed, but I was crying. I subconsciously leaned against Yugi, and I wouldn't have noticed, but I heard someone clearing their throat. "Err… Are we interrupting something here?"

I blinked, and immediately after grasping the situation, jumped onto my feet, my face burning with embarrassment. Yugi stood up too, and his face was red as well.

I heard snickering behind us, and turned around to find Joey and Tristan rolling on the roof in laughter. Tea was standing next to them, sighing, while muttering 'Those two idiots…'

"Joey… Tristan…" I growled, my blush immediately fading away. "The two of you are so dead!"

The two didn't stop laughing, but got up onto their feet and started to run, while chanting, "Rox and Yugi, sitting in a tree, K-I-"

"SHUT UP!" I chased after them, and the three of us were running around I circles. Yugi and Tea were watching with sweat drops. And I'm pretty sure I heard R joining into the small little 'Roxy and Yugi, sitting in a tree,' chant.

* * *

After a while, I collapsed on the ground, breathless, and gasped after each word she spoke. "Ok. I. Give. Up."

"Ha, ha, we win!" Tristan and Joey high fived, and did a little victory dance. "We won, we won, we won~!"

"What exactly did you guys win…?" I laughed, and stood up. Then I quickly muttered. "Sorry guys… About today." Before they could respond though, I groaned when I suddenly remembered something. "Uh… Aren't we going to be late for class?"

Everyone's face was shadowed with dread, and we all quickly scrambled to get to our classes.

* * *

I luckily got to class without getting late, and was sitting in my seat, with my back pack hung on the back of my chair. Class was boring as usual, and I was struggling to stay awake.

And then, something woke me up, and probably the entire class as well. It was a string of loud electric beeps going off, a cell phone. It took me a while to realize that it was _my _cell phone, the one that was in my book bag. The other students were staring right at me, and the teacher didn't look very happy.

_Shoot. Of all the times it goes off, it has to be during class?_

"Take your book bag, and leave the classroom for the remainder of class. And you'll be staying after school, Ms. Hylkio." The teacher pointed to the door, and the cell was still ringing.

"But-" I tried to argue.

"**Now.**" The teacher didn't give me a choice.

I slung my book bag over my shoulder, and trudged out the classroom, slamming the door shut behind me. The beeping ringtone stopped abruptly,much to my annoyance. I pulled my cell phone out and looked to see who was calling me. The second I saw the number, I knew it couldn't have been from the gang. For one, I didn't recognize the number, and it didn't even look like it belonged to this country!

"Stupid prank callers…" I muttered, tossing my cell phone back into the bag and slumping onto the floor. "Now I'm going to have to stay after school… Oh, joy…"

_

* * *

_

-Lucifer-

"Domino City…" I muttered, weaving my way through the crowds of people on the streets. "You know, I hate my job… But still… Oh, I'm talking to myself again, aren't I?"

I headed into a narrow alley, and started talking to myself again. "If it's not in this city… Then I'll have to go look in Egypt. And that's going to be impossible to find in all that sand and heat. Guess it serves me right to be looking for something cursed… And, I can't go to Egypt right away yet, even if it isn't here… I still have things do. Why couldn'tI have a normal job, like… I don't know, an accountant or something…"

_Serves me right for making a deal with him. The devil._

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**Hey, sorry if it was a bad chapter. Well, it was pretty long, so that's why it took a while to update. Oh, I have a funny story to tell you guys…**

**So, me and my friend (She likes Yu-Gi-Oh too…) were riding in a car, and my mom was driving. We passed this building, that looked a lot like the Kaiba Corp one! And, there was a helicopter flying right above the building. Me and my friend both shouted: 'HOLY COW, IT's KAIBA CORP!' My mom almost crashed into the car in front of us. xD Then my mom sighed and muttered something about 'watching too much Yu-Gi-Oh'. xD**

**And yes, Lucifer is making a tiny appearance this season... Just wondering, but what does everyone think of Angel/Blood? O_O I don't know about you, but I think she's kinda creepy... **

**Well, anyway, thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated. :3**


	7. Chapter 6 Rainy Days

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Ugh, updating is taking sooo long. And I know a few of you guys probably have a few of questions about the last chapter. (I know because my friend had a whole list of them O_O I think I spent a LONG time answering all of those… *falls down on the floor from tiredness*) Just message me or leave a review with the questions, and I'll try to answer them. **

**Well, here's a new chapter.**

**Chapter 6- Rainy Days**

_-Roxanna-_

"I hate this… What a suckish day." I muttered. "Having to stay at school, _after_ school. The whole meaning of after school is to get _out_ of school, not stay there…" I half-heartedly started moving the mop I was holding in my hands across the dirty floor. The strings of the mop barely even slid a centimeter from its original position.

"Tell me about it…" Tristan sighed, mopping the floor with about as much enthusiasm I had. "I heard you got put on mop duty because your phone was ringing in class?"

"Yeah. Stupid. Phone. Just. Had. To. Go. Off." With each word, I dunked mop into the bucket of water by my feet once more. "So why are you here doing this all so fun activity, Tristan?"

"I beat up this one kid for making fun of Yugi. And of course they couldn't just suspend me. Oh, _no_, they just had to put me on mop duty." Tristan sighed.

"Hmmm? Then you should have told me, too, and I would've helped you beat that kid up. At least that's a better reason to be punished than for, oh, oops, my phone accidentally went off." Before, I was simply annoyed with the task of having to mop the floor. Now, I was kinda mad. "Stupid mop, stupid floor, stupid phone!" I furiously scrubbed the mop against the floor while glaring at the floor, as if hoping that it would clean itself.

Then, I heard some cheerful whistling, and looked up. It was none other than Joey, strolling towards us, his hands in his pockets, looking as if he had won a lottery or something. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Hey, what's with the long face, Rox?" He asked. I was going to reply, but then he took the mop right out of my hands. I blinked. "You know what? I'll go clean up in your place." He continued whistling, and started to mop at the floor with enthusiasm.

I blinked, still confused. Then I sighed. "Alright, what's the catch? You want me to do your homework or something?" That blonde didn't expect me to think he was just doing this because we were good friends, did he?

"Hmm? What do you mean? Can't you just believe that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart?" Joey asked, continuing to mop at the floor. He had this one grin plastered on his face. And that grin was starting to scare me. A lot. He was being too cheerful, it was creepy…

"No." I replied. Normally, Joey would have throttled me for saying that or at least glared at me, but instead, the smile never left his face. "Alright, I'm serious now, please, stop… Stop smiling! It's getting really scary now!"

Joey shrugged, but never stopped grinning. "Sorry, Rox, I'm just really happy is all." _I can tell…_ "My sister's finally getting her eye operation after all. And it's all thanks to Yugi for giving me that three million dollar prize money he won at Duelist Kingdom."

_Ohh… That's why he's being all generous today… He's just happy for his sister…_ "Well, that's pretty cool… Best of luck to her during her operation." I nodded.

Tristan seemed much more enthusiastic. "Sweet! So when can we go visit her?"

Joey looked away from Tristan, and dipped his mop into a bucket of water, and sloshed the water around. This time, his smile finally faded. "It's not that simple. You see, my mom's going to be there, and ever since she and my dad divorced, and she took Serenity away, we haven't really seen eye to eye."

"Huh, family troubles…" I gave Joey a sympathetic look. One of my soft spots would have to be talking about bad family relationships, since my happy family was destroyed when I was only eight. "Well, Joey, look on the bright side, at least your family's normal…" Now, my family might have been a happy one, but we weren't just your average family…

"What do you mean normal-" He started, but then stopped.

Tristan grabbed Joey around the neck. The brunette had this one mischievous look in his eye. "You know, your sister doesn't look anything like you; she's pretty cute. If you can't go visit her, just tell me what hospital she's at, and I'll go visit her alone. Or you can man up, and we'll go visit her together. Then you can introduce me and her, eh?"

Tristan was trying to cheer Joey up a little and not get him to worry that much, but at the same time, trying to kinda ask Joey's sister out… I backed away from the two boys, already knowing where this was going to go. After all, I had a big brother once too. And he wouldn't be very happy about other guys even thinking about flirting with me…

"Tristan, don't you even think about it!" Joey looked so mad, I was so sure he might just burst out into flames of anger. The blonde kicked his bucket away and threw his mop aside. Tristan had dropped his mop a while ago. Joey pulled one of Tristan's arms and bent it behind his back, and a while later, the boys were twisted together like a pretzel.

"Uh… Have a nice rest of the day, you two… I guess I'll see you some other time?" I just walked away, still hearing the boys arguing behind me. I let out a tiny laugh when I was sure I was a good ways away. Ah, those two can be so immature, it's funny. I'd hate to see the day they grow up and turn all serious.

I couldn't even imagine a serious Joey. It just wasn't possible.

Seriously, you can try it if you want. Just imagine Kaiba's personality and Joey's face instead...

I shudder at the thought. **Any** company would plummet the second Joey would be put in charge. xD

* * *

I stood in front of the school doors that would let me escape this horrible building of eternal torture. Except there was one little problem. It was pouring rain outside. The grey clouds above seemed to be mocking me, tears of laughter (aka rain) falling down from them.

All the other students were running into the rain, some of them with umbrellas, some of them using their books held over their heads to block the rain, and others just plain running out into the rain.

_How I envy you normal people with normal hair that doesn't turn pink in rain. I wish I could just run out into the rain, and the only worries I would have would be getting wet or getting sick. I even have an umbrella with me… Or any books. Oh, the irony. I own a whole bookstore, and yet, I don't even have a book with me when I need one. Ugh, stupid, stupid rain! Stupid, stupid, stupid-_

"Why aren't you going, I mean don't you want to get home?" Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me, and for some reason, a picture popped in my head. It wasn't really a pleasant one. It was Angel, holding a knife with blood dripping from it, and she was licking the blood off the knife with an evil expression on her face. I jumped, and let out an uncharacteristic squeak. I heard laughter behind me, and I whirled around to find Yugi trying to hold in his laughter, without much success.

"Oh, it was only you! Gees, don't scare me like that!" Even though I tried to sound mad, I sighed, relieved. I don't know why Angel popped up in my head, but I was so thankful that it wasn't her who was talking to me before. She's nice and all, but sometimes she could be really weird and creepy. Now I had a really bad feeling that she was going to haunt my nightmares again.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to come up and say hi." Yugi shrugged, his laughter subsiding. "Not so happy about the rain, I'm guessing?"

"No… And I don't have an umbrella with me." I pouted, glaring at the grey, cloudy sky outside. "And you remember what happened the last time I went out in the rain, right?"

"Yep, your hair went completely pink." Yugi nodded, smiling at the funny memory. "Didn't Joey call you Strawberry Shortcake or something when that happened?"

"Don't even remind me!" I groaned. "I hate my stupid color change hair!" Then a sudden thought occurred to be. "Hey, Yugi, why are you still at school? I mean, it's not as if the rain is holding you back or anything…"

Yugi seemed to get all nervous for a moment. "Ah, m-me? It's nothing really… I just kinda wanted to ask you a favor… Well, R, really. But uh… Are you busy this weekend?"

"Me?" I blinked, and my bookstore schedule popped up in my head. Well, kinda… But maybe I could fit in some time. "I don't think so. Why?"

"Oh… Well, it's just that Yami hasn't really been in such a good mood lately, since the warehouse incident and hasn't really been talking to me." Yugi explained. "Is R feeling alright?"

"Her? I don't really know. She kinda bottles all her negative feelings up so it's hard to tell whether she's really happy all the time or not." I shrugged. "But again, what about that?"

"Well, uh, I was thinking they should, I dunno, take a little break or something, to take their minds off of things? You know, if you're free this weekend, maybe they could hang out?" Yugi was still kinda nervous, shuffling his feet and putting his hands behind his back.

I started to blush the slightest bit. The first word that screamed in my mind was 'date'. Just hanging out with another guy seemed to kind of imply that. Even if it was only R and Yami… I still felt a little uncomfortable with it. "Um. Sure…" Then I quickly added. "Only R and Yami, right?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded. "Thanks for helping, Roxy."

I was sure my face must have been tomato red by now. I turned so that my back faced him, mainly to hide my face. "No problem, and I'm not really doing anything anyway. If you feel like thanking someone, go thank R."

"Well, tell her I said thanks, ok?" With that, Yugi ran off into the rain.

I blinked, and mentally whacked myself in the head for forgetting to ask one more important detail from him. "Wait, when and where do I meet you?"

"10 o'clock tomorrow at the Domino Station!" Yugi yelled back, while waving his hand in the air. "Thanks!" He quickly disappeared into the distance.

I turned to look to the rain. It started to rain even harder, and I sighed. "Alright, better get it over with…" And I plunged right out into the pounding rain.

* * *

Back in the bookstore, I was drying my bright pink shair with a towel. "Stupid rain… Hate it."I mumbled.

'_Hey, look on the bright side!'_ R popped out of the Hourglass, as always in her ghostly spirit form.

"What bright side?" I asked. "There is no bright side!"

'_If you're crying, and it's raining, nobody can tell, right? I mean, your tears can kinda blend in with the rain.'_ R shrugged. _'I guess that's kinda positive…'_

I gave her a weird look. I don't think I've ever seen R break down in tears. Heck, I don't even know if she even knows the definition of crying. Alright, that might be a little exaggerated, but still, she's so cheerful all the time. I'm always surprised when she turns all serious. When that happens, it reminds me that she's about five thousand years old, not five.

"I guess…" I sighed, and set my towel aside. "So, tomorrow… I have something to tell you about that…"

'_What? Oh, don't tell me, are you getting me a present or something? Please tell me that's what's going on!'_ R sounded so enthusiastic, I kinda felt bad that I'd have to dash her hopes.

"Uh… No. Yugi wanted you and Yami to hang out tomorrow. You know, a little like a da-" Before I could finish the word 'date' R started talking.

'_Yay! Then I won't have to stay in this boring bookstore tomorrow! Are you sure it's ok if it's just me and him? Won't the rest of the gang be lonely?' _R was even more excited now.

And I was dumbfounded. Seriously, she's older than I am, and yet she's so ignorant… I was seriously starting to think that she was actually five. "Uh, yeah… It's fine." Then something else popped in my head. "Oh, R, about the warehouse… Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

R paused, and blinked. _'… Yeah, of course! You know me, I'm as happy as ever! Mwahahaha!'_

"Uh, R, that's evil laughter… Not like I'm-happy-laughing…" I chuckled.

Then R smirked. _'Who said I wasn't evil?'_ She had that same evil smile like Angel's.

I shivered. _… One second she's all stupid and cheerful, and then it's like she's a secret murder or something…_

'_Aw, I'm just joking!' _R laughed.

"Ahaha, you're so funny…" I muttered, and headed up my room. "Just remember, I'm not reminding you about tomorrow, so you'll have to get up early, not me. If you miss the time, it's your fault, got it?"

'_Yes, Lieutenant Hylkio!' _R saluted me with a goofy smile. _'I will remember to wake up at 6 A.M. sharp!'_

"You don't have to get up that early…" I opened my bedroom door. "After all, it is a weekend…"

'_Ah, but I have something special planned… Mwahahaha!' _It wasn't R's evil laughter that scared me. It was that one smirk she had on her face.

_I have a bad feeling that I'm going to regret letting her go out on her 'date'… _

A really bad feeling.

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**Again, sorry if it's kind of short. Thanks for reading, and I'll say this:**

**Date + R= Disaster. xD**

**O_O I don't want to think about an evil R, do you? xD**


	8. Chapter 7 Calls and Chibi

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**I'm back. With like ten tests coming up. -_- Don't you just love school? Anyway, here's the chapter.**

**Warning: Chibi R has officially come out in this chapter to annoy R. xD (This will seem less confusing when you read some of the chapter…)**

**Chapter 7- Calls and Chibi**

_-Narrator-_

To say that Roxanna wasn't in a good mood would be an understatement. She was as ticked off as possible. Well, at first she was kind of surprised… Ok, let's get back to the beginning. It all started that morning…

R had kept to her promise and woke up at six A.M. sharp and finally for the first time in a few days actually got to switch places with Roxy. So while Roxy waited impatiently in the Hourglass, R was initiating her not so well thought out plan.

From within the Hourglass, Roxy could hear banging, crashing, and other weird noises that she tried to block out. When she thought of what those noises might be, it only worsened her anxiety. Roxy just hoped that R wouldn't break the entire bookstore down, doing whatever that spirit was doing.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, R called Roxy's name. "Hey, Roxy!"

Roxanna silently cheered, happy to finally stop waiting, and appeared out of the Hourglass, in spirit form. She took one look at the goofy grinning R, and Roxy went speechless.

R was dressed pretty casually; grey t-shirt and a pair of white shorts. She had on some sort of white, poofy hat that Roxy forgot she even had. (R probably got it from that box of things that managed to survive from the fire that Roxy keeps.)

But it wasn't even the hat that caught Roxanna off guard. It was R's hair. It wasn't grey anymore… It was white. Pure, snow white, just like how Roxanna had hers, before the car incident.

"Roxy, what do you think? I don't really like the hat though… It's kinda silly looking, don't you think?" R frowned, and pulled the hat off her head and dropped it on the ground. The girl's bright blue eyes glimmered with a sort of half happy, half worried look.

Roxanna ignored the worried look in R's eyes. _'What did you do, stick your head in the freezer for like five whole hours? I tried that, and my hair can never look that white. It always turns out a bit grey.' _

R laughed. "Nah, not really. And it's only been about…" R glanced at theclock that hung on the wall. "Two hours." Then R shifted her gaze on the floor. "But I uh… Kinda messed up a little…"

'_What do you mean?' _Roxanna blinked.

"You'll see…" R opened Roxy's bedroom door, and Roxanna when Roxy peered in, she went speechless once more. "That's why…"

Now, Roxy knew why R seemed a little bit worried. R was worried about Roxanna blowing up like a volcano. _'… What the heck did you do to my room?' _Roxanna looked ready to murder someone. The girl fixed an intense glare at R. The glare was probably enough to burn a hole through R's head.

"Ah, gees you don't have to be so angry!" R muttered apologetically. She flashed one of her best known annoyingly cheerful smiles. "I'll just fix it!"

'_How, may I ask, can you fix, THAT?' _Roxanna pointed at the bedroom.

Roxy probably had every right to be angry. Her entire room was covered in ice, with huge icicles hanging down from the ceiling. All the walls were shiny ice mirrors, the floor could be a mini skating rink, and all her other furniture and things were just perfect ice sculptures.

"I'm sorry, alright?" R laughed, not looking the least bit sorry, much to Roxy's annoyance and anger. "I was practicing with that scepter the Bird's Eye can turn into, so I could use it on my hair or something… It turned out kinda bad… But I can fix it!"

R looked really confident, and from behind her back pulled out the scepter. She pointed the tip of it at the ice covered room, and muttered something inaudible. To Roxanna's surprise, all the ice started to melt. Well, melt wasn't exactly the word. The ice was slowly disappearing, but it wasn't turning into puddles of water. It simply rose into the air, like little wisps of sparkly smoke, and vanished. It wasn't before long that all the ice in the room disappeared, leaving the room to look like it normally did.

"Is that cool or what?" R smiled at her achievement. "I've gotten better with this thing!" It was then that Roxanna noticed that R was wearing something around her right wrist, the one that wasn't still wrapped in bandages. It was that key necklace Roxy had gotten from that present. Except, it was wrapped around so many times, it could count as a bracelet.

Roxanna decided to ignore that. _'Well, next time you decide to test some ice tricks, do it __**outside**__ of the bookstore, please?'_

"Sure!" R nodded enthusiastically. She seemed to be in an even better mood than normal, which Roxanna found a little unbelievable. "I guess I'll go and start walking over to that Domino Station…"

Roxanna had a really bad feeling, and already knew what R was about to say.

"Which reminds me, are you sure that Station's still standing, I mean, if it's the _Domino _Station, couldn't like another station topple it over? Domino City doesn't seem like the safest city, does it?" R started rambling again, while Roxy groaned.

'_Forget the whole Domino thing! Just get going already, please!' _Roxanna started to fade back into the Hourglass. _'And please, be a little more serious today, please?'_

R scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease, when have I ever _not_ been serious, Roxy?"

Roxanna smiled a little. _'You don't really want me to answer that question, trust me, R.' _And then she disappeared back into the Hourglass, leaving a blinking, confused R.

"I can be serious if I want to!" R muttered, offended. But she quickly smiled once more. Normally on the weekends, it would be boring, just staying in the bookstore, R watching as Roxy took care of the customers that came by. Today's different.

_

* * *

_

-R-

I raced down the stairs, into the bookstore part of the building, and quickly rushed out the entrance of the bookstore. I was about to lock the store door behind me, when I heard a pained moan.

"Ouch!" The voice was coming from underneath me? "Hey, hasn't anyone told you that stepping on people isn't very nice?" The voice, it was a guy's, and he had a weird accent that I've never really heard of. Like a mix of different ones.

I looked down, to find a person, wearing a neon green hoodie and a pair of tattered jeans. I couldn't see his face, because he was wearing a mask on his face, and his hoodie was up. The guy was sitting on the front steps of the bookstore, and I was stepping on his right hand. The guy wasn't even looking at me. He seemed to be in deep thought, staring off into the distance.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I lifted my shoe, and the stranger retracted his reddened hand quickly. "I wasn't looking, and- Wait, why are you sitting here in the first place?"

"Well, I guess that's partially my fault. I couldn't get home in time, so I fell asleep here last night. Sorry." The guy stood up, his back to me.

And that's when I noticed how tall he really was. I mean, he could have easily been as tall as Kaiba, or maybe even taller. This stranger made me feel like a midget, the way he towered above me.

This time, he turned around to face me, but I couldn't even see his eyes behind that black mask he wore. The guy stayed silent for a bit, before speaking again. "You're Roxanna Hylkio, right?" I blinked when he recognized me. "That girl that got third place in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament?"

"Yep, that's me." I nodded. It's not like I can tell him I'm not Roxy, just a spirit that lives in the Millennium Hourglass, right? "Can I ask you your name, Mister?"

The second I said 'Mister' the guy seemed to be pretty annoyed. "Don't you dare call me Mister! It makes me feel like I'm some sort of old man or something!" Then he paused, as if thinking before he spoke again. "You can call me Dusk."

I was about to say 'Nice to meet you, Dusk', but I noticed something. "I asked you your name, and you answered 'Call me Dusk', not 'My name is Dusk'. And, you had to pause before you answered me. So Dusk isn't your real name, is it, Mister?"

Now, the guy seemed pretty ticked off. "I told you, don't call me Mister!" Then he seemed amused, and let out a little chuckle. "Alright, I'll admit, that's not my real name. But I prefer Dusk, if that's alright with you." He bent over a little, to pat my head. "You're pretty smart for a tiny kid, ya know?"

Now, I was annoyed. I absolutely **hated** when people doubted my intelligence. So I pouted, saying. "I am **not **a little kid!"

"Sure you aren't… Kiddo." Dusk chuckled once more, earning him another pout from me. Then, he tensed and looked behind him, as if someone were following him. More like an assassin after him though, the way he seemed to be so worried. "Alright, Kiddo, I have to go. Guess I might see you around."

"Uh, alright-" But the guy was already gone. Dusk seemed to have disappeared the second he ran off. Seriously, how can he run that fast?

I blinked stupidly for a few seconds, before I realized I still had to meet Yami at the Domino Station. I quickly locked the store, and bolted for the Station, hoping that I wouldn't be late.

* * *

Well, I wasn't late but… I glanced back at the cell phone I brought. The same one Roxy got in the present. The phone read: **10:01**

I mean, I could understand if he was a minute late, but I'd been waiting here since nine thirty. All the waiting was making me a tad bit impatient. And that's when _she _appeared.

'_Stop being so impatient!' _I was sure I was hallucinating when I saw a miniature version of me floating in front of me, her arms folded and giving me a glare. Or maybe just a figment of my imagination. But usually those involved people that looked like transparent ghosts. This mini version of me looked like a regular person… Except tinier. Well, the sudden name came to me, and I decided to name her Chibi R.

'_Alright, Chibi R, what do you want?'_ I asked. Maybe she was another spirit… Oh, that would be confusing! There's gonna be Roxanna, R, and Chibi R… Just thinking about that made my head hurt.

Chibi R looked ready to reprimand me, but I heard something else. "Hey, Yugi, this isn't a duel!" Sounded strangely like Yami…

I looked over to see Yami, yelling at the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck.

I blinked, and one sentence kept repeating in my head over and over again. _Don't start laughing. Don't start laughing. Don't start laughing!_

Yami looked up when he felt someone staring, and blinked when he saw me. I think it took a while for him to actually know it was me, after all, I went from grey to white hair… He stood straighter, and slightly waved his hand. "…Yo."

I couldn't take it anymore, and fell onto the floor. Then I started rolling around on the floor in uncontrollable fits laughter. I'm pretty sure Yami sweat dropped and the people around me looked as if I were some sort of psycho. I don't blame them either, I mean, I am pretty weird…

Chibi R just glared down at me. _'Gees, be mature and stop laughing already! Stand up and go apologize!'_

When my laughter subsided a little, I pouted inwardly. _'Chibi R, you're no fun!'_

'_And you're acting like a five year old!' _Chibi R's glare seemed to intensify and I couldn't even meet her gaze anymore. Alright, that's just ridiculous, I can't even look at a glaring mini version of me! I was starting to think that Chibi R was just a very, boring, serious version of me.

I stood up, just as Yami walked over to me with a sheepish look on his face. I tried to keep my face neutral when I talked. "Uh… Sorry about laughing at you earlier…" My laughter was threatening to start again, but with Chibi R glaring at me, I decided not to.

Is there some way to get rid of her? Maybe there's some sort of Chibi-Me-Repellent… You know, just your average thing you can find at any store…

* * *

Well, after our awkward encounter, Yami and I (Oh wait, don't forget the annoying Chibi R…) went to a nearby coffee shop. It was a small one, with no other customers except us. Yami told me what to get him, and quickly went over to a seat near the window.

I brought back our drinks, and sat across from him, not even touching my drink after I set it on the table. Yami had his chin in his hand, glancing out of the window, looking to be in deep thought. There was an awkward silence in the air.

It finally dawned on me that I was nervous. I mean, I was all pumped earlier, but now… Out of sheer nervousness, I started twirling a few strands of my hair around with my finger. Even Chibi R remained silent.

I kind of wanted to shout 'Someone, anyone, just say something!', but I bit the frustrated comment back. You know what they say, happiness is infectious. So maybe… I took in a deep breath, mustering up all the cheerfulness I could have, and said, "Hey, the weather's awesome today, isn't it?"

"Sure…" Yami glanced at me once, before turning back to look out the window. The silence fell once more.

'… _Fail. Epic fail.' _Chibi R shook her head, face palming._ 'Seriously, that's the best you can come up with?'_

I sighed, and picked up my drink, taking a sip out of the straw, ignoring Chibi R's comment. I seriously didn't know what to do. This was going to be a long day…

"R," I blinked when Yami called my name. He had turned so that he was facing me, with his chin still in his hand. "Do you really not remember anything about yourself?"

I set my drink down. "What are you talking about? I mean, I remember Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Roxy, you-"

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean your past." Yami shook his head.

"Nope, nada, zero!" I replied, and took another sip from my drink before continuing. "But I really don't care anymore, though I would like to know my real name. How about you, do you remember anything?"

"Me? Well, I know I'm from Egypt and I was once a Pharaoh." Yami shrugged. "That's about it. But I'm confused about something… Why don't you really care about your past anymore?"

"Hmm… I don't know, I guess that it won't make that much of a difference if I knew about whom I was in the past does it?" I tilted my head, trying to think of the best way to describe things. "I mean, I'll always be me, no matter what happened before. And anyways, I got the best friends anyone could ask for, and I'm perfectly happy right now with the way things are. Maybe it's better off I don't remember my past, just in case there's something I wanted to forget." Then I smiled. "You're lucky that you were a Pharaoh. I don't know what I'd be… Probably just some random person off the street."

"And how would some random person off the street get their hands on a Millennium Item?" Yami raised an eyebrow, amused. "Did you steal it?"

"Haha, very funny." I laughed dryly. I knew he was joking, so I decided to join in. "You know, I'm not so happy with just the Hourglass. Be careful, Yami, I'm going to take your Puzzle next."

"Oh no, I guess I'll have to hide it from you now, huh?" Yami chuckled and the tenseness in the air had finally disappeared. And my hyper personality kicked back in.

"Sooooo, Pharaoh, your highness, what do you want to do?" I leaned back on my chair, and had my hands on the back of my head. I was much more relaxed now. "I'm sooo bored… And I have no clue as to what we should do…"

I could hear Chibi R yelling at me in the background, about my composure, but I just blocked her out.

Yami frowned a little. "You don't need to be so formal, R, we're friends after all. And I'm not a Pharaoh anymore."

"Sure, then Yami, what do you want to do?" I asked again. Calling him Pharaoh just seemed to be… Natural. I don't know why.

"I don't really care." Yami shrugged. "I guess we should just walk around?"

"Works with me." I stood up, and was about to walk out of the shop, when my phone went off. "Hold on." I glanced at the number. It was the same one that Roxanna saw when she was at school. The same number. Without thinking, I picked up, and spoke into the phone. "Hi-"

"**Is this Roxanna Hylkio?" **I froze. I didn't recognize the voice from the phone, and it sounded altered. Maybe it was a guy? But how did he get Roxy's number…? **"Roxy, is that you? Rox, talk to me!"**

I was sure I was turning pale by now. Yami gave me a worried glance, and motioned for me to hand him the phone. My trembling hands managed to get it to him.

Yami held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

Somehow, I was able to hear the speaker on the other end of the call clearly. **"… Is this Yugi Motou?" **Yami and I seemed shocked. How did this guy know who Yami was? Well, not exactly, but close enough.

"Yes." Yami nodded. "Can I ask you who you are?"

"**Look, Squirt, hand the phone to Rox, now." **The guy sounded mad. **"I know she was the one that picked up."**

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about." Yami said. I was surprised at how easily the lie came. "Now, please, tell me what your name is."

"**Don't lie to me. Just let Rox talk to me. I know she's there." **The caller seemed frustrated, and really angry, as if he was about to explode like a volcano. **"I'm running out of patience."**

"I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number." With that, Yami hung up on him.

I was shocked speechless, and still scared. I didn't know who that guy was, or how he knew Roxy's number. My heart started pounding again when my phone rang once more. According to Yami's expression, it was the same number, same caller.

Yami simply picked up, and repeated. "I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number." Then he hung up again. The two of us waited in silence for a while, but the phone remained silent as well. "Here, I think he won't be bothering you again." Yami handed the phone back to me.

"Thanks, Yami." I nodded, my smile returning to my face. "Well, let's go, that call wasted enough time!" I dragged a blinking Yami out of the shop, with Chibi R running after me, scolding.

I really need some Chibi-Me-Repellent. Please, if there's some anywhere, tell me!

**

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**

Author's Notes:

**Ah, probably not what you expected, but hope it's ok. And no really sweet 'aww' moments yet. xD But, the date's still going! Haha, don't ask about Chibi R… It's a long story how came up with that… Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 8 Crying Stone

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Gees, making characters with secret identities and writing suspenseful stories are very annoying for me. Why? Because I'm so tempted to say who they are and give away some of the plot! -_- I'm not cut out for this… xD**

**And I mean no offense towards those of you who like GPS's… That's just the way R feels about them. (You'll see later on…)**

**Chapter 8- Crying Stone**

_-R-_

Much to my relief, Chibi R seemed to have disappeared after giving up on getting me to listen to her after many failed attempts. Guess I didn't need that Chibi-Me-Repellent after all, though I might need to buy some, for the future.

It wasn't until a few hours of walking from place to place that I noticed I was holding onto Yami's hand the entire time and him holding mine. After the realization hit me, small tints of pink started to spread across my face, and I tried to slide my hand away from his grip as casually as I could. I think Yami noticed, but he didn't comment about it.

"So…" I looked around nervously, trying to find something to take my mind off the holding hands. And I hoped that my face wasn't as red as I thought it was. "Oh, uh, look!" I pointed at a sign that was taped to a wall of a street next to us.

Well, the paper was a flyer, with a background of a pyramid resting on top of a sea of sand, the point of the pyramid grazing the bright blue sky. There were a few words on top of the picture, talking about a new Egyptian Exhibit opening up in the Domino Museum.

Yami turned to look at the flyer. His eyes scanned over the words and picture. "An Egyptian Exhibit in the Domino Musem?"

"Yep, looks like it. You wanna check it out?" I asked. I was always intrigued with Egypt, sometimes even flipping through a few books about it in the bookstore. I think Roxy was surprised I could even read.

He raised an eyebrow and had an amused look in his eyes. "You actually want to visit the Domino Museum?" Yami looked so skeptical, I anime fell.

I got up, glaring slightly at him. "Look here, I can like going to museums if I want to!" I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting. I guess I didn't seem like the type that could stay quiet and enjoy looking at old artifacts. "Don't jump to conclusions about me…"

Yami let out a chuckle. "Alright, alright, so you do want to go." I still wasn't quite sure if he was teasing me or not. He probably was.

"Uh, it's fine if you don't want to, I was just suggesting something." I waved my hand, as if to dismiss the idea. "I just babble a bunch of nonsense a lot; you shouldn't trust my judgment most of the time."

"It's fine, we'll go." Yami shrugged. "There's not much to do anyway, right?"

"I guess…" I sighed, my mood suddenly dropping. A sudden thought had come to me. The last time I went to a museum… Things didn't go quite so well. Let's just say Roxy ended up paying for all the damage I caused. It surprises me how much money (Which was a lot…) she can just give back to them, and not get mad at me at all (Seriously, all she said was- 'R, next time you go to any sort of building, please don't accidently blow up half of the entire place, please.'). Well maybe it was just that she wasn't that surprised that I ended up wrecking the museum-

"R, you ok? You look a little unhappy." Yami's voice interrupted my train of thought. I hadn't really noticed that I was drifting off into my own thoughts, and a slight frown had formed on my lips.

"Oh, I'm fine!" I quickly pushed the last museum incident to the back of my mind, and returned to my 'normal' bubbly self. At least that's how it appeared to everyone else. I was always known as the 'happy-go-lucky person'. Nobody really noticed when I was really upset or worried because I just manage to hide it with a laugh or a smile. "Let's go to the Museum already!"

With that, I started running off forward at full speed, and I heard Yami yelling behind me, trying to contain his laughter. "R, wait, that's the wrong way!"

I skidded to a stop, and turned around to look at Yami with a sheepish look on my face. "… Whoops. Hahaha, I guess I got a little carried away, huh? My bad…" I ran back over to him, with a goofy grin on my face. "Well then, lead the way, GPS! Are we supposed to turn left after walking straight for five meters?" I joked, and I could barely contain my giggless.

Yami sighed and muttered to himself, though I heard what he said. "When did I turn into a GPS for you…?"

"Nah, you're not a GPS… Those things get so annoying." I muttered, remembering that annoying monotone voice it always spoke in… _Turn right on blah blah blah road. Then in 4.5 miles, make a U turn- _And it goes on and on…! Ugh!"But seriously I have no clue as to where the Museum is."

Yami shook his head, smiling to himself. "And if I weren't here, you'd just run in some random direction, hoping that you'd find it?"

"Maybe," I laughed. "But I would be in the boring bookstore all day if I weren't hanging out with you today, probably helping Roxy do all the money management stuff… Because she can't do math unless it involves Duel Monsters."

"Is she really that bad at it?" Yami asked.

"Yup," I smiled. "But it's not as if I'm any better… Ugh, I don't want to talk about math anymore, it bores me to no end! Let's get to the Museum!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're very impatient?" Yami laughed, starting to walk towards the direction that I hoped was heading towards the Museum.

"Many times by Roxy, yes. And a few other people." I replied, following behind him.

* * *

"It's already night time… Time sure does fly by…" I murmured, looking up at the darkening sky. "And we're finally in front of the Museum…"

There were a few smooth marble stairs that led up to the tall front doors of the huge building, the Domino Museum. And right now, I shall refrain from making another Domino comment… But, if this building topples over, I'm so going to shout to Roxy- _'_Ha, I told you so!'

I was still kind of anxious about going into a museum again, but I was really looking forward to looking at the exhibit for some reason. If Roxy saw me now, she'd be laughing so hard, and making fun of me for actually wanting to go visit here.

The two of us went up the stairs, and through the doors, and was immediately greeted by nearly complete silence, other than a few younger kids who couldn't help but talk. The museum seemed pretty empty of people, though.

Of course, we had to buy our tickets before we were allowed to enter the exhibits. I dug into my pockets, somehow finding more money in them. (How much did Roxy give me?) And then walked over to the counter where a man sat there with a bored expression on his face. He took my money, and handed me two tickets, still looking lifeless. Almost like how Roxy looks when she's sitting in math class, bored to death and just wanting to get out of here.

Yami and I entered the Egyptian Exhibit section of the building, and I looked in awe at everything. The stone tablets that were hanging on the walls, carved into them pictures and Ancient Egyptian words. People strolled around, glancing into the glass display cases and shelves that held ancient artifacts. There were vases, most of them chipped or broken; a few ancient, rusty tools; and so many other things.

I was afraid my excitement might cause another… Accident to happen. I really didn't need to blow up another museum. So I tried to keep myself as calm as possible by walking around silently while admiring the artifacts. Yami seemed preoccupied as well, looking from display to display, wall to wall.

And then, we started to turn around at a corner of the hallway we had been walking through. Well, I turned, but Yami didn't. He was staring straight at the doors that were roped off in front of him. The doors were slightly ajar, so I could see that there were stairs that led down, into a different room. I blinked and turned so that I was facing the doors as well.

"I sense something down there…" Yami murmured. "It's calling out to me." The familiar glowing gold eye appeared on his forehead.

I sure sensed something alright, but the feeling I had wasn't a good one and it was definitely not calling out to me. It was as if it was repelling me, warning me to stay away, whatever was down there. A feeling of eerie and… Strangely, melancholy seemed to radiate from the below. I glanced at Yami, and his eyes met mine. I think he was surprised when he saw that I looked worried, maybe even scared. I was struggling to keep my voice steady, but my voice shook anyway. "P-Please, can we not go d-down there?" It was the first time I had heard myself beg like this. "Please, don't… I have a b-bad feeling about it."

Yami blinked. "How so? I don't…" He seemed really drawn to whatever was down there, exactly the opposite of my reaction. But at the same time, he looked concerned at how scared I must have looked to him. No, I didn't need him to be worried about me, he had enough worries.

"… I don't know, I just have this weird feeling is all… Maybe I'm just overreacting. Yeah, that's probably it." I shook my head, trying to shake away those feelings I had. But they only faded a little, they didn't go away. They were still there, whispering for me to turn away, and not to go, that I'd regret it. But I ignored them completely. "Let's go." I forced myself to smile, even when I felt deep dread boiling in the pit of my stomach.

"Are you sure?" Yami asked. "I understand if you don't want to-"

"I'm sure, stop worrying about me already!" I stepped around the 'Keep out' sign in front of the door, and was just one step away from the first stair. Immediately, a cold shiver ran up my body, a shiver of dread. But I forced myself to look normal, and descended down the stairs. Yami followed behind me.

* * *

Surprisingly, it was brightly lit, and the room the stairs led to, itself was warm. But my skin felt colder than ice. The uneasy feelings I had only strengthened when I finally stepped off the last stair, and onto the tiles of the room. All around the room were many different stone tablets that were behind glass cases, but one stood out in particular.

The one that was right in front of us. The Millennium Puzzle was carved near the top of the tablet, with three different creatures surrounding it on the top, left, and right. Underneath that, were two figures, both males, with one monster above each of their heads. Monsters that resembled Duel Monsters. There were hieroglyphs carved into the rest of the stone. The figure on the left wore a sort of headpiece, and was holding a staff. The figure on the right seemed very familiar…

"Wow…" I gasped, looking at the engravings in the stone. No, that wasn't what was making me feel uneasy. It was something else in the room. But, on the tablet, something else dre my attention. "Yami… That person over there… He looks kind of like you, doesn't he?" I pointed at the right figure carved into the stone. The guy had the same hairstyle as Yami, and he had the Millennium Puzzle around his neck as well.

"He does… Was that really me?" Yami wondered, looking perplexed. "My opponent and I seem to be playing an ancient version of Duel Monsters…"

That's when I recognized the monster above the carving of look-alike Yami. It was the Dark Magician. Yami's opponent in the carving had the Blue Eyes White Dragon above his head. My eyes widened in realization. I looked back at the opponent, and sure enough, he kind of resembled Kaiba.

Yami seemed to have realized the same thing. "Kaiba… It seems him and I were rivals in the past too… I wonder who won this duel?"

"I don't know…" I sighed, and then my eyes widened in shock. "…" I walked over to the right of the tablet we were observing before. "Yami… Come look at this." Yami blinked, but walked over.

It was another tablet. But this time, a different thing was carved on it. There were two figures, one girl that stood on the right, one boy that stood on the left. Above their heads were monsters. The girl was wielding a staff; a bird perched on her shoulder, and was wearing the Millennium Hourglass. She looked strangely like me. But her monster, wasn't one of mine. It was some sort of female fire warrior-like monster. The guy was in a position, holding out his hands in front of him. I knew who it looked like right away. Lucifer. They both had the same hair, same sort of… It was hard to describe, but I knew I was right. Above his head, was a monster I immediately recognized. It was the Dark Ice Sorcerer. In between the me-lookalike and the Lucifer-lookalike seemed to be a clash of ice and fire. Ice, coming from the girl, and fire coming from the boy. There were hieroglyphs on this carving as well. And one more detail. The girl, me, was crying in that carving. There was a trickle of tears falling from her eyes.

This was what was repelling me. This tablet.

"Those two people, they're you and Lucifer, right?" Yami asked, and I nodded slightly. "Why are you crying?"

"I don't know… But this doesn't make any sense. Lucifer has _my_ monster, and I don't even know what monster I have." I muttered. "Why's that?"

"Sorry, but I don't have a clue…" Yami gazed at the tablet. "But apparently Lucifer was your rival back then too, huh?"

"Technically, he's Roxy's enemy, not rival." I corrected. "I didn't even know I had a connection to the guy."

I touched the glass that separated the tablet from being able to be touched. The second I touched the glass, I heard sobbing. Heartbroken crying, and somehow, I knew it was me that was crying. I jerked my hand back, feeling myself grow pale. But that didn't make sense either. I don't even remember _ever _crying. What could have happened to make me… Shed even one tear?

"You ok?" Yami cast me a concerned look.

"Y-Yami, t-touch the g-glass, and t-tell me if y-you see or h-hear anything." My voice was shaking so much, I could barely got the words out of my mouth.

Yami did as he was instructed, and maybe only a second passed, before he yanked his hand away, looking pretty upset. "… I heard crying. It sounded like… It was you. It was you, wasn't it?"

I tried to take in deep breathes, trying to calm myself, to think clearly. All my thoughts and emotions were so clouded and jumbled. "Yami, I want you to do me a favor."

"What?" Yami looked confused at the sudden comment.

"Please, I don't want you or Yugi to tell Roxy about this carving… I don't want her to have to worry about me." I lightly touched the Millennium Hourglass. "She has enough worries on her mind lately. I don't want her to have to bother with something as small as this."

"… Fine." Yami nodded. "But are you feeling alright?"

"…" I faced Yami, and smiled. A fake one. "Course I am! I'm just a little curious about things is all." I didn't want him to worry about me either. "Enough looking at this tablet, let's look back at yours."

I didn't give him a chance to protest, and dragged him over to the first one we looked at. I really didn't want to look at the one with 'me' on it. I was starting to think that might be my twin sister or something… I mean, I would never cry… I think…

"You know, I've learned a few things about my past. But, it's like I have the key to the door of my memories, but behind that door is another door. I don't have the key for that door, and there are probably more doors behind that one." Yami sighed. "The more answers I get, the more questions I have."

"… I guess you could put it that way." I nodded. But I was really scared of remembering my past now. I mean, if that crying girl really was me… I had a bad feeling that something horrible happened to cause that. And the more I thought about it the more convinced I was if my memories stayed hidden, it would be better for me. After all, there must be a good reason for me to forget everything… "But, Yami, don't you think that some doors should stay locked? If they're locked, there should be a reason behind that."

Yami glanced over at me, confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by someone else.

"Sorry I'm a bit late. Got a little… Busy." I was pretty sure I had heard this voice before. The person's shoes tapped against the tile floor as he walked closer to us. "Uh, Miss Ishizu Ishtar? Are you here?"

"No, you're not late, I am. Sorry to keep you all waiting, even though I've been expecting you, my Pharaoh, Little King Dusk, and Life." Another voice spoke, causing me to feel even more nervous. I didn't recognize this one.

Pharaoh was Yami… I'm guessing 'Little King Dusk' was probably Dusk. But… Who was Life? Could it possibly be my name? My real name?

But no… That name didn't seem right; it didn't feel attached like a name should be… It couldn't possibly be mine.

**

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**

Author's Notes:

**And no, Life is not R's real name. Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated. If you want to, you can make your own guesses on why that girl was crying. It could be R, it could be someone else. ^^ **


	10. Chapter 9 Why?

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note:**

**Ugh, this story requires a lot of thought on how the all characters' emotions work (I blame myself for making them so complicated…)! And I am no psychologist…**

**And if you're confused about Dusk… You should be. xD Also, I apologize in advance, this chapter and the last weren't that interesting, with all the explaining. Sorry about that. ^^'**

**I just thought I'd say this, but if I ever owned Yu-Gi-Oh!... Well, let's just say, that would be horrible for all of us. xD I just noticed that I put the disclaimer up in every chapter and never really notice it... **

**Chapter 9- Why?**

_-R-_

To tell you the truth, I was terrified. That crying I heard somehow had shook me to my inner core, and I felt insecure enough as it was, just hearing that. But a new voice… It scared me to no end. I shivered, but slowly turned around along with Yami to see who the two people were.

Well, I knew one. The familiar figure was leaning against a wall far away from Yami and I, still wearing the neon green hoodie and mask. It was so hard to tell how Dusk's expression was though, since his entire face was blocked from view. But I think he seemed a bit bored, the way he just casually leaned against the wall, and kind of just stared up at the ceiling in an uninterested manner. "'Sup." He muttered, his weird accent clearly heard by the rest of us. It was so unique that I was tempted to ask him if he made up his own language that sounded close to that tone he always had. xD

The other figure stood closer to Yami and I, the owner of the new voice. But for some reason, one look at her told me that she wasn't an enemy of mine. The figure was a fairly tall female, with tanned skin. She wore a simple Egyptian style white dress with only a few designs. Her silky black hair fell a little past her shoulders. The kind, yet mysterious blue eyes of hers gazed at me before flickering towards Yami. Around her neck, a gold necklace… With the same symbol as all the Millennium Items had. This woman was a wielder of a Millennium Item.

That means that there are three Millennium Items in this room… Unless…?

I looked back at Dusk, who was still having a staring contest with the ceiling. Not that I could tell who would be the winner. The ceiling didn't really blink, and Dusk… I couldn't see him blink with that mask on his face. So there really wouldn't be a winner unless Dusk took off his mask… He didn't seem to be wearing any gold, like all the Millennium Items seemed to be, so I'm pretty sure he didn't have one.

"Allow me to introduce myself," The woman spoke, earning my attention once more. "My name is Ishizu. It's a real honor to meet you, Pharaoh," And she slightly bowed, before looking at me. The bow seemed to make Yami feel a little uncomfortable. "As it is meeting you." She turned back to look at Dusk. "Do you want to pay your respects to the Pharaoh, Little King?"

Dusk let out an irritated sigh, and broke his gaze away from the ceiling to look at Ishizu. "It's not _him_ this time… I was afraid_ he'd_ tear that one guy over there to pieces." Dusk motioned towards Yami. "And _he_ told me to tell you that _he_ hates that nickname. I would have thought you would notice the change." Then he strolled over so that he stood closer to the rest of us.

Yami of course didn't seem to be too delighted at the thought of being torn apart, but the two of us both were confused. Dusk seemed to be referring to someone else other than himself in a way that I might refer to Roxy or Yami to Yugi. Did that mean he had another spirit too? But how could that be, if he didn't have a Millennium Item?

Ishizu nodded. "I just wanted to see your reaction. So should I call you Niu?"

Dusk winced as if she had stabbed a knife through his heart. "I don't really deserve to keep that name. Just call me uh… 'You', 'him', 'that guy over there', or whatever else you can think of. That'll work." This earned him an amused look from Ishizu, and confused looks from Yami and I. Dusk, if you wanted one word to sum him up: Weird. I mean, he wears a mask all the time; apparently hates his 'real' name (Not sure if Niu is his real name...); and he is so freakishly tall! Makes me feel like an ant. xD"Ah, I almost forgot. Hey, Re- I mean, Roxy." He shook his head, looking a little hurt for some reason. "Haha, I was going to call you Rexy. Silly me."

"Its fine…" I laughed. If he was going to say Rox before, it might have turned into Rex. xD But one thing kind of bothered me. It was as if he purposely changed from whatever he was going to call me to Roxy. Nah, I'm probably just worrying too much…

Dusk turned towards Yami, and bent forward, bowing. "Sorry for being disrespectful, earlier by not addressing you, Pharaoh." His head was hanging down in shame and guilt. "I shouldn't be allowed to live."

This shocked Yami and I further. For one, Dusk somehow knew who Yami was. And he seemed to be really upset for not 'paying his respects' or whatever. "No, no, it's fine," Yami shook his head. "There's no need to be so formal, any of you."

Dusk started to chuckle, and soon burst out laughing. He soon was lying on the floor, pounding his fists against the tiles and kicking his feet up and down. Yami and I sweat dropped, while Ishizu smiled a little. Dusk finally calmed down, and stood up, wiping a tear from his eye. He looked very amused. And I was very confused. This guy is just plain... Weird.

Before he spoke, he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but it takes much more than something as simple as that to make me think that I deserve to be killed. There's another reason." Dusk paused. "After all, I did be-" He stopped when Ishizu gave him a slight glare. Dusk sighed, annoyed. "Alright, I won't tell the poor guy! Though he does deserve to know… Oh, I almost forgot what I was doing here. Ishizu, just one simple question from both me and uh, 'Little King'. When should I uh, tell…?" Dusk looked really nervous now, shuffling his feet, and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Whenever you feel it's the right time," Ishizu's glare completely disappeared, and she seemed to pity Dusk. "But not yet. Just be patient and wait a while."

"Thanks, that's all I really came for… See you guys," Dusk looked like he was going to turn to walk back up the stairs, and out of the room, but he stopped, staring at something. "Ishizu, I thought that _he_ told you to take that down and reduce it to rubble." Dusk motioned towards the 'crying tablet', looking angry.

"I took a lot of trouble into putting that up, and I'm not going to take it down or destroy it. Sorry." Ishizu said, her voice kind yet firm. Her eyes showed that she was definitely not going to listen to Dusk.

Dusk glared at the tablet once more, and turned towards Ishizu. The air around him seemed to tense. "If you aren't going to smash that thing to dust, I suggest you return it back to Egypt, where it should stay hidden under the sand for eternity. Or I'll stop by and take care of it myself." He and Ishizu glared with defiance at each other. I was starting to feel uncomfortable at the tension building up in the room. Dusk finally sighed and broke eye contact. "Well, I'm going, thanks, Ishizu, for everything.

"One last bit of advice to the both of you, Pharaoh and Re- I mean Roxy! Ugh, sorry, I'm not so good with names." Dusk muttered to himself, about 'old habits dying hard', and then continued. "Stay away from me for the time being. It's not safe to be around me. Ciao, I'm going to go and hack a few computers. Good day to the rest of you." He waved his hand slightly, and disappeared up the steps in a blur, leaving Yami and I to wonder why he thought of himself as dangerous. I personally was more curious about the computer hacking. I mean, learning how to hack into computers would be so cool! Not to mention useful… Another thing too, I was suprised that Dusk simply dropped the subject like that. He's a weirdo.

"… Well, I'm sorry for another delay in talking to the two of you." Ishizu apologized. "But, 'that guy over there' needed my help first." She tried to lighten the mood a little, calling Dusk by that name he told her to use. "He's on the run, after all."

More questions seemed to pop up, but I refrained from asking them. It looked like Ishizu had something to say to us, and I didn't want to interrupt her after Dusk kind of did.

"As I said before, my name is Ishizu." She reintroduced herself, and decided to talk to us for a bit. Though she didn't really tell us anything we didn't already guess from looking at the tablets or we already knew.

Well, until I brought a subject up. "I guess my Hourglass isn't that unique, since your Millennium Necklace can look into the past and future as well." I guess I was a tad bit disappointed when she told us that, after all, I had believed that the Hourglass' powers were one of a kind.

"Ah, there's something your Hourglass can do that the Necklace can't though," Ishizu shook her head, making me a little happier. But she was probably just saying that to cheer me up… "It can capture the user's memories into objects. Like you did to that tablet." Ishizu motioned towards the 'crying' tablet.

I glanced back towards the tablet, feeling my mood plummet once more. If she hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it, that tablet… "So I trapped one of my memories in there?"

"One of the more tragic ones, yes," Ishizu nodded. "That's why everyone had so much trouble putting it up. If someone touched it with their bare hands, they would relive that memory. And even if they don't have direct contact and they're close enough, they can hear crying…"

"Do you mind me asking who is crying?" Yami asked.

"...The person who carved the tablet." Ishizu replied, though she seemed hesitant with the answer.

And that sentence made me feel relieved. I couldn't carve anything, even if my life depended on it. I've tried wood, stone, soap (Ok, please don't ask…), and a mirror (Seriously, don't ask…), failing miserably at each. There was no way that I could etch onto the tablet like that.

Ishizu decided to drop the topic. "When the two of you return home, you'll find an invitation to go to a tournament. Please attend it." Then she paused. "Both of you have important roles to play in it. And, you," She pointed at me, making me blink. "Need to collect the five of them."

"Five of what?" I blinked, utterly confused. Gees, I expected to actually understand more, not be more perplexed.

"You'll know when you recover your memories." Ishizu replied. "Use your Bird's Eye." And with that, she left in a flash, leaving me even more confused and an awkward silence hanging in the air.

"… So did you learn anything new?" I asked. "Cause I know I learned that nothing's ever simple, even if people give you explanations. Sometimes you just end up even more baffled then before." Basically, like math. Some teachers go and have this long, fancy explanation, but by the end of it, not only did you not learn anything, you're completely puzzled on whether you've been doing the problems right for the past few minutes.

"Not really," Yami chuckled. "Though I do have to admit, the tournament she mentioned might be important."

"I guess…" I remembered that Ishizu told me to 'recover' my memories… Wait! The Bird's Eye contains my memory! Stupid me, I forgot! I fished it out of my pocket, not really sure of what to do. Well, I didn't really have to do anything. All I did was hold it in my hand, and then think 'I want to remember.' Even though I didn't really want to remember… I mean, there must be a reason I locked them away… But I didn't have time to stop it. The Bird's Eye illuminated even dimmer than a small candle flame, but it had a huge reaction on me.

Reds, blues, yellows, greens, and other colors danced at the corners of my eyes, clouding my vision, blinding me. And then it came. Waves of pictures, pieces of conversations, sounds, scenes… Some of the things I had forgotten. It seemed like eternity piecing everything together, watching my past unfold in front of me. Some memories were happy… Others weren't as much.

The images, the memories. They stopped flashing before me. It had only passed maybe a second, that eternity, but I saw everything… At least, from the two pieces I had of the Bird's Eye. I felt my grip on the Bird's Eye weaken, and it slipped out of my hand, clattering onto the floor. There was sudden a flood of emotions, and I felt weak. No, not only weak… I suddenly deeply regretted remembering what I purposely pushed away. There was a reason for keeping those memories away from me… A very good reason. But, it's easier to remember than forget… I couldn't undo that now.

I leaned against Yami's shoulder. I felt him tense from surprise, but that quickly disappeared when he saw my face. "R… Are you alright?"

My lips had formed a frown; my hands were clenched; my legs shaking like a leaf in the wind. Eyes were glistened with unshed tears. _Tears._ It was just a second ago that I found out, I had actually cried before. At least twice. And now would make a third.

I opened my mouth to speak, and this time I didn't even try to lie or hide my emotions. "N-No…" When I squeezed my eyes shut, one tear fell, one turned into two, and soon became had a whole trickle. More like a flowing river. "It's just not fair… Why? Why couldn't I have just forgotten? Why did I want to remember? Did I really kill all of those people? Why couldn't I have just died and stayed dead? Why did I have to keep my soul trapped in the Hourglass? Why do I have to do this all over again? I don't… I don't… I don't want to have to kill you, Yami. I don't. It's not fair." I could just imagine the look on Yami's face. He was probably surprised, and maybe even scared. It's not like it's every day that someone tells you they don't want to kill you.

I opened my eyes, with tears still falling from them, but I just couldn't meet Yami's gaze. I felt horrible, broken, upset, and more than anything, guilty. This time, I wrapped my arms around Yami's waist, burying my face in his chest, and started to sob uncontrollably. My words were muffled by the smooth cloth when I tried to speak, and turned into unrecognizable sounds.

But it was the same exact word I kept saying, over and over again: _Why?_

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**Uh… Yeah, very depressing. The next chapter's more on R's 'past'. Or at least what she remembers. But don't worry, it'll get happier in the next chapter. ^^ And to all you fans out there who want to scream at her for killing Yami/Atem, she didn't. Or at least I hope so. o.O It's pretty confusing… Just wait until the next chapter, a lot of things get cleared up. ^^ And yes, R thinks of Dusk as a weird guy... xD I mean, he's not your average person you see wandering around...**

**Anyway, I'm super busy, so I'm sorry if this is rushed. Thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are appreciated. And yeah, I keep changing my summary because I can never come up with a good one. -_- Anyways, any questions, ask, and if I can answer them without giving anything away, I will. 'Cause, at this point in the season, it does get pretty confusing. :/ **


	11. Chapter 10 Murderer and Bodyguards

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note: **

**Warning: Prepare for R's constantly changing mood. And uh… Well, just weird things. And I am super sorry if any of the historical info is wrong. And, btw, R's story is all bolded, so it's easier to read.**

**Also, I'd like to say thanks to Sunfrost, even though you don't have an account… I can't reply back to you. :( And I'll tell all of you right now, R's memories aren't exactly all there… Keep that in mind. So, plot twists will occur. ;)**

**Chapter 10- Murderer and Bodyguards**

_-R-_

That day… I killed three people (well… Kind of three people…) , broke someone's heart (and spirit), and broke down in tears. The day I received the Hourglass. Now that I remember it, I'll never be able to burn it out of my head, that horrible memory. Oh, how I wish I could forget… But I couldn't, no matter how much I willed my brain to go and erase everything I just remembered.

When the waterworks ended (aka my crying), I smiled like nothing happened, and dragged a confused Yami out of the museum. Even I don't understand the constant changes in my mood. I guess after staying mad or sad for a bit, I automatically go back to happy mode. Either that or I guess that's just how I am, always bubbling with life.

The two of us sat on a bench towards the side, with a streetlamp beside us, already flickered on, casting a dim light around. The night had crept into the sky quickly, even though we didn't spend much time in the museum. It was already completely dark, with the moon illuminating in the dark sky, a few stars twinkling here and there.

I hadn't noticed, but I subconsciously tilted my head upwards, to admire the beautiful night sky. I'd never really appreciated the sight, but now that I think about it, tonight might just be the last time I will ever see a night sky. Curse that stupid prophecy about me, ruining my mood…

I lowered my head, and shivered when a cool breeze blew onto my skin, causing goose bumps to rise. _Ugh, I'm so stupid… Why'd I have to wear shorts today?_ I drew my knees closer to my body, so that my legs weren't hanging off the bench anymore, and rubbed my arms with my hands to try to get warmer. Yami had remained strangely quiet.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed. I was stalling… Well, I can't hide it forever, I guess… Better to admit it now, and not have to feel guilty for not telling him sooner. "Yami… I have something to tell you. Yugi and Roxy, too." The moment my words left my mouth, Roxy and Yugi appeared as ghostly figures beside the bench. Too late to back down now.

"What is it?" Yami asked quietly, gazing out into the empty street in front of him, still a bit distracted by the museum incident.

"… And, Roxy, I don't blame you if you want to really toss the Hourglass away after my story…" I murmured, but none of them heard. "It's no good to have a murderer as your friend…" I raised my voice, hoping that I could finish with my story without breaking down in tears again. **"My earliest memory, was when I was three."** Alright, I have a feeling someone's going to laugh, but one of the earliest memories was my mom pushing me into a secret compartment under the house. No joke.

"**Well, first of all, my real name is Renenet Khepri. When I was three, I lived in strange little village with my mom. I have no recollection of my dad… But, anyway, I don't remember much of that village, but one memory stuck into my head. Everyone hated birds there; they thought the creatures were cursed. So whenever a bird flew over the village, everyone would throw stones at the poor creatures, except my mom and I. My mom refused to hurt them, and I simply listened to her. **

"**One day, my mom found a badly injured bird, and brought it back home. I was still three at the time, so I didn't really understand when the neighbors started to argue with my mom, telling her to kill the bird. My mom refused and instead healed the bird, within an hour. That was another thing I hadn't really quite understood at the time, but my mom and I could apparently heal birds, even though I didn't know I had the ability. The thing was, that injured bird was on the brink of death, and no normal human could have healed it, not even Mom. So she took out the last resort; the Bird's Eye. The Bird's Eye is a sort of item that can transform into different weapons, as well as focus magic a little bit more. It was a family heirloom.**

"**Mom set the bird free. The neighbors saw, and soon, the entire village knew. Since birds were cursed, and my mom seemed to have worked 'black magic' by 'bringing it back from the dead', the village accused my mom of witchcraft. I was still young, so I was confused when I heard the angry yelling outside my house. My mom quickly hid me under a secret compartment under the house, and handed me the Bird's Eye. She told me to 'stay hidden, no matter what'. And I did, even though I was scared, and all alone in the dark.**

"**They broke down the door, and stormed into the house. I felt the vibrations from all of their footsteps. There was a lot of yelling, arguing, and I heard my mom scream. But I didn't move, just silently cried. Then, something clattered to the floor. Metal. And I heard another wave of footsteps, this time leaving, slowly fading off in the distance. I hadn't noticed that something warm, sticky, and moist had been dripping onto my hand through a crack above me.**

"**I finally got out, after I couldn't wait anymore. I almost broke down crying when I saw it… The metal I heard before was a knife. And it was covered in blood. That's what was dripping onto my hand… My mom's blood. They had killed her, and I don't even want to describe the wounds she had… **

"**I willed myself not to cry, and I knew I had to run. Run away from the village. So, I did, but didn't really think about bringing anything. Just the Bird's Eye, and I set off, into the harsh desert climate. Three years old, and I left the place I once called home. Being as young as I was, I didn't last long in the heat and the sand. I quickly fainted, from dehydration. **

"**I woke up after I felt a sharp tap on the top of my head. It was that bird my mom set free. That bird saved me. She managed to lead me to a close village very quickly, before I collapsed in exhaustion once more. The villagers had come to my aide, and soon, after a week of rest, I was as good as new. The village had warmly welcomed me, and I was glad to stay, though I didn't accept any offers to live with any family. Instead, I had befriended that savior bird, and the flock of birds in the village, living with them in my horribly built shelter. In time, I named that bird, the one that saved me, Altair. Altair was… A teacher, an older sister, my best friend. I was pretty content in that village, and it was peaceful there. I didn't want anything to change.**

"**Until one year -and I was eight then- the whole village was destroyed by a group of bandits. I was knocked unconscious during that fight, and then when I woke up… The flock of birds had brought me to a different village, somehow. After wandering for a bit, a guard brought me to the palace… And I was thrown in the dungeons, and I didn't know why.**

"**But, I remember being in the dungeon, and then waiting. I was taken out of there, after a while, and then, led to a small, but decent room, somewhere in the palace. Later, someone came in, and explained to me about some sort of prophecy. Apparently, it involved a bird (The description matched Altair's looks), and a grey haired girl. But at the time, my hair was black. So the rest of the prophecy remained a mystery to me… All I knew was, if I didn't have grey hair, I wasn't that person.**

"**But the people at the palace still kept me captive, in that room for some odd reason, though they did give me a few rights. I was allowed to leave the palace with someone accompanying me and had to be tutored. But I wasn't really interested in studying logic, or whatever they were teaching me. I wanted to learn magic. But, they wouldn't let me go to that magic school… Because I was a renowned 'trouble maker', and they were afraid I'd blow up the town, or something. But most of the trouble involved Altair being the mastermind… Not me.**

"**But I often sneaked into the school anyway.**** And it was there, that I met them. My memory's a bit foggy around here, but I met three very important people. I think they were my friends. There was Luzige (guy), Chione (girl), and Niu (guy). We often hung out when a managed to meet them, and they'd teach me magic sometimes. We were all really close…**

"**I had spent a year there, in the palace, and I hadn't ever seen the Prince… Which was you, Yami, even though I had seen the Pharaoh, your dad, on a few occasions. The first time I met you, was when I was skipping class. We didn't talk much, because we only saw each other for about two minutes. Then I was caught by Mahad and Shimon, and then forced back to study. **

"**The next time I saw you, was a month later, after I fell from a high place and got amnesia for a week. You saw me trying to balance myself on a ledge, and yelled at me to stop messing around. I got caught by surprise, and lost my balance, falling into the floor underneath me. Figures, you try to help, and things end up worse. Haha.**

"**After that, we kind of just started talking more and more, and became friends, over a few months of time. I was about eleven now. And I thought everything was perfect, and it would stay perfect… But I was wrong.**

"**I had only bits and pieces of this memory, but I remember… That day. Luzige yelled at me, about me killing Chione. He got angry, and somehow, the room we were in caught on fire. Niu ran in, and him and Luzige got in a fight. I tried to break them apart, and Altair did too. But the two of them were involved in fist to fist combat, and we couldn't stop it. I was pushed out of the burning room. I was stressed, and I felt helpless. That's when it happened. The flames only grew hotter and bigger, a few of the flames burning at my skin. I suddenly freaked out, shutting my eyes. When I opened them, the fire was gone. But there were weird looking crystal shards everywhere. I didn't know at the time, but it was ice. Weird, white things were falling from the sky, too. Unknown to all the Egyptians in the village, it was snow.**

"**I ran back in the room. Niu, Chione, and Altair were gone. Luzige looked like he wanted to explode in fury. He glared at me, holding something in his hand, and ran away. I wanted to cry. I lost three of the most important people to me that day… And, a fourth one, Luzige, though not to death. And, I caused all of the death… I was a murderer. This fire incident became known as the Inferno's Curse.**

"**I found something else in the room. Something gold… An Hourglass. The Hourglass. It had been made, from something tragic… But I kept it anyway. Just as a reminder of what I had done. That day, I changed my name too. Renenet, my real name, means 'Goddess of Luck'. The irony. I wasn't lucky at all. A random name popped up into my head, 'Eshe'. So I used that. Oddly enough, 'Eshe' was burned into my arm, from the flames. And my hair was grey. Just like the prophecy.**

"**Well, after the incident, I was told the rest of the prophecy. Apparently, that grey haired girl was supposed to make some sort of important decision that would affect the world, though it never specified what kind. For all I knew, it could have been as simple as 'I'm too lazy to get up in the morning'. The rest of it talked about Life being destroyed, maybe Egypt and the Pharaoh going as well… The Pharaoh was referring to you, Yami. I wanted to cry, and never stop, after I heard that."**

I took a deep breath. I had a feeling a question was coming up.

"But what does Life have anything to do with you?" Yami asked.

"… Eshe, the name I had changed to…" I smiled lightly. "Means Life…" It grew quiet, but I continued. "So, I'm either going to die alone, or take you and the empire down with me. Sounds very… Nice, doesn't it?" You could probably see the sarcasm dripping from my mouth.

It was bad enough that I told them I had killed… But now, Yami knows that because of some mistake I might make, he's going to die. Oh fun. But I wasn't finished yet…

"**Anyway, the rest of the stuff I remember goes something like this… Ice and snow, that was something foreign to the rest of Egypt. Adding that I summoned it, and I might kill the future Pharaoh and destroy Egypt… People started hating me. Of course, some of them attempted to kill me. Each one of them had some sort of horrible fate befall them before that could happen though, so people eventually thought I was cursed. They stayed away from me, calling me names behind my back, sending me glares when I walked past them. But, your dad, you, and a few other people accepted me, surprisingly. I was forever grateful, that you, Yami, even after knowing I might very well kill you, still stayed my friend. And, I vowed, that I would try to protect you the best I could. I didn't want to lose anyone close to me ever again… And that's about all I remember…"**

I finally finished, and sighed. Yugi and Roxy had stayed strangely quiet the entire time. Yami looked to be in deep thought. Though I don't blame him. I just told him that I might have killed him a long time ago. I murmured, "Yami… I won't get mad if you want to stay as far away from me as possible. And Roxy, I won't be mad if you want to chuck the Hourglass out the window…"

"… Wait here." Yami ran off, Yugi running off after him, and I sighed.

I knew it. I knew that he'd leave. But I was much more relaxed with the weight off my shoulders of telling him…

'_You're an idiot.'_ Roxy sighed, and I glared at her. _'Look, I'm not tossing you away. But you better not kill us all, or I'll come haunt you for the rest of your dead life, and make you regret it!' _

I let out a tiny chuckle and rolled my eyes. It's so like Roxy to act all uncaring and caring at the same time. "Fine, I'll try not to destroy the world if I accidentally trip over a stair…" The two of us laughed, but mine was fake. It really could be that simple… One small tiny wrong move from me, and goodbye Earth. I hated this pressure I had…

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting…" Yami surprisingly came back, holding something behind his back. I blinked, and tried to see what he was hiding, but he made sure that whatever it was, it was hidden from view.

I pouted. "Yami, let me see already!"

"Fine, you're so impatient…" Yami chuckled, and tossed two things at me.

I gulped, out of surprise, and managed to catch two stuffed plushies… _Plushies? _I glanced back at what I was holding.

One mini Dark Magician plushie, and it was so cute~! X3 He was even holding his little staff… The other one was even cuter… Kuriboh… It was just so cute, staring at me with its huge, cute (fake though… Real would have been scary. O_O) eyes…

I blinked, just staring at the items, and I couldn't take it anymore. "KYAHHH! They're so adorable! I love them! Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!" I did a little dance, still gripping onto the plushies, while Roxanna sighed, shaking her head, and Yami and Yugi sweat dropped.

"Thank you, Yami!" I gave him a quick hug, and jumped back, still dancing with the toys. Then I stopped, and a mischievous grin crept onto my face. "One's for Roxy, and one's for me, right?"

'_Well, yeah…' _Yugi nodded. _'I thought we should have given you guys something.'_

"… Thank you…" I murmured. Yami hadn't left me after all… Though I didn't understand why.

Alright, when I'm clueless, I go into 'Switch with Roxy_'_ mode! She usually sorts out all the stuff for me.

"Since I know Roxy likes cute things…" I tried to keep from laughing, but a few giggles managed to slip out. "I'll take the Dark Magician, and she can have the Kuriboh!"

I could already hear her complaints, but I just shut her out, and returned to the Hourglass, leaving Roxy to deal with the rest of the situation. Mwahaha, I can be so evil, can't I?

But, another reason I went back into the Hourglass… I needed time to think. A lot of time to think. Especially about all these things I've remembered… There are obviously holes in my memory… Those gaps might be important… Though I don't think I want to remember anymore… What's next, I'm going to find that my dad tried to kill me?

_

* * *

_

-Roxanna-

I sighed, and ended up sitting on the bench, with Yugi. Apparently Yami and R- I mean, Renenet- I mean, Eshe, need to think. Seriously, R- I mean… Nevermind! She needs a name I can call her by! I don't know what to call her now… Ugh, the frustration…

Well, I guess I needed to thank Yugi. After all, he and Yami did get us the plushies… Though I'm not that amused at Ren for giving me the Kuriboh one. Yes, I'm calling her Ren. Or Rene. Or Reny. Whatever one works. Rene had taken the Dark Magician one into the Hourglass… Leaving me to hug the Kuriboh one. I felt a little weird, after all, I'm not the type to be sleeping with a stuffed animal…

Ok, back to thanking Yugi. I didn't just want to say 'thank you'… It seemed a bit to ungrateful… So, I tried using that dreadful 'L' word. "Uh Yugi?"

"Hmmm?" He asked.

"I… Uh… I l- I love yo-, I mean, I love it! Love the Kuriboh!" I quickly corrected myself, blushing as I did so. I hope the dark could hide the pink spreading across my face, or at least he could think of it as me being cold… Stupid accidental slips!

Unknown to me, the Hourglass had emitted a tiny blue glow…

"You do?" Yugi didn't seem to notice. "Well, that's great."

"I have to go!" I quickly got up, still clutching the Kuriboh plushie. "I'll see you later when we meet up at the tournament!" I suddenly remembered that I had to go to that one tournament Ishizu told us about…

"Alright, I'll see you later!" Yugi called, as I ran off as fast as I could.

I ran straight for the book store, and quickly unlocked the door. I found a letter, but didn't bother reading it. It was definitely an invite to the tournament. Then, I ran up to my room, and grabbed my deck, a belt, and my deck holster. I put on the belt, and slid the deck holster, along with my deck onto the belt. All set.

Except for one thing… I lightly placed the Kuriboh plushie on top of my blankets on my bed. I muttered, "Gees, because of you, I almost said 'I love you' to Yugi… That would have been awkward. Very awkward."

With that, I left the bookstore, locking the door behind me, feeling a little happier, even after R's story. In truth, I absolutely adored that plushie… I just didn't want to admit it. _Stupid me, having to be so stubborn all the time…_ I strolled at my own pace, knowing that I'd eventually walk to my destination… Somehow.

* * *

I yelped, when I saw a guy collapse on the ground near my feet. Then I wanted to turn around to see who had caused this, but was tackled to the ground instead. "ROXYYYYYYY!"

I let out an 'oomph', when I landed on the ground. Ow…

"Roxy, oh my gosh, I can't believe it's you! I missed you sooo much, and so has Pete! You remember Pete don't you?" I looked to see a small hand holding out a snake… A poisonous one. Its tongue flickered, centimeters away from my face. "Though, you have gotten much worse… You need to pay attention to your surroundings at all times!"

I gulped. "Please… Take the snake away from my face…" Now, I'm not usually scared of snakes, but this one was an acceptation. It was a freaking, King Cobra.

"Oh, right, sorry, bout that, Rox! Pete is too, he was just excited." The person jumped off of me.

I sighed, to look who it was, and was caught off guard. It was a girl, a centimeter shorter than I was. She had innocent, bluish, grayish eyes, and wavy brown hair. The girl was wearing a simply white dress, and looked normal… Minus that snake wrapped around her neck like a scarf. I knew who this was. "Blood?"

"Nah, just call me Angel," Blood nodded, that smile still plastered on her face. That innocent smile that I knew was fake. "Roxy, I missed you so much! And you're so tall!"

" Missed you too, teacher." I nodded, and sweat dropped at the tall part. "You've gotten… Taller too." Nope, she hadn't grown an inch… And she's eighteen right now… I wonder if her feet can reach the gas pedals on the car? xD

"Aww, stop calling me teacher, I'm only two years older than you are!" Angel laughed. "And no, I'm still as short as ever… But, now that you mention teacher…" I dodged her punch just in time. "You need to toughen up! You're out of shape!"

I dodged all of her pummels and kicks, and had to grab a knife that flew at my face. It was about an inch away from going into my left eye… But luckily, I was fast enough. "… Phew." I let out a sigh of relief. Just like average day training back at the orphanage.

"Yay, you still haven't lost your touch!" Angel shouted with glee. "Good job!"

"Uh, by the way… Who's that?" I asked, pointing at the man, still laying face down on the ground.

"Oh, he's my bodyguard, Lance… I forget his last name. He's fine, I just accidentally punched him a little too hard…" Angel said sheepishly. "My bad…"

Yeah, that's Blood for you, beating up her own bodyguard… That's supposed to protect her!

"Ugh… I'm fine, I'm fine…" The man got up, looking to be in about his mid twenties. He had short brown hair, and hazel eyes. He looked tired, and a little bruised up. "Gees, Angel you might want to stop having 'fake fights' with me. How am I supposed to protect you if you get in trouble like last time?"

"Uh, sorry, Lance, but I don't think she needs any help when she can beat you up…" I muttered.

"… Well, I need to keep her away from trouble, as ordered by her parents." Lance shrugged. "She always manages to do that…"

"I didn't mean to stab that one guy in the arm!" Angel whined. "He attacked me!"

I sweat dropped. Typical Angel… Always having some sort of excuse for 'accidentally' hurting someone. "Anyway, what are you doing in Domino? I thought you were back in America?"

"Well I was invited to a Duel Monsters tournament… Say, Lance, can you go now? I got Roxy with me, and I promise that I won't cause any trouble, please?" Angel pulled out her secret weapon… The irresistible puppy dog eyes. She added sticking her lip out, and a few fake tears.

Resistance was pointless, the second she gave you that look, there was no way you could refuse anything. I knew, because I had to deal with that every single day back at the orphanage. Lance sighed. "Fine, fine!" And he walked off, with Pete the King Cobra around his neck.

"Alright, hand them all over. Now." I stuck out my hand.

"Aww, gees, you're no fun, Rox…" Angel muttered, and started pulling out knives from her hidden pockets, shoes… In the end, I had about fifty knives, in various sizes and sharpness's. I'm going to go crazy if I have to confiscate this many every time I see Angel...

* * *

"… Alright, so how are you in this tournament?" I asked. Angel and I had been strolling for a while together.

"I'll have you know, I actually can duel, and did get into Duelist Kingdom!" Angel said, looking proud, but then she looked disappointed. "Except this one kid stole my star chips and ran off…"

**(Author's Notes: I didn't add that part in season 1, but Mokuba was stealing star chips… You want to guess who stole Angel's? xD)**

"Oh, well that sucks…" I nodded.

"But, I did see you there!" Angel seemed happier again. "Except you looked all gloomy and not fun… And you had grey hair. I never got a chance to say hi… You kept going and disappearing."

"Mhmm…" I nodded, not really paying attention. I was just walking, hoping I was going the right way.

"Roxy… Where's Lucifer?" Suddenly, Angel seemed angry.

"Uh, I don't know…" I replied. "Haven't seen him in a while. Why?"

"He had the nerve to go and kill you adoptive father and burn your house? Was he not scared I'd come after him and murder him for doing that? That jerk, I swear, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands!" Angel seethed, and I stopped walking.

"How'd you know-" I looked to see a tiny cut on my arm. And Angel was holding a small knife with a tiny tint of red on it. And she was licking the blood off the knife. Dang, Blood's gotten better at this… I didn't even feel that… "Look, Blood, I don't care, just forget about it, ok? Please, don't fight with him…"

If you're wondering, I'm not protecting Lucifer. Nooooo, never. I'd be very happy to let him just go and die. I'm protecting the world from being destroyed by World War IV. Remember, World War III happened on the roof of the orphanage before. xD And that was destructive enough as it was…

"Fine. But if I see him, at least let me kick him or something?" Angel grudgingly agreed. I knew she would, she always listened to me about this kind of stuff.

'_Roxy…' _Rene, of all times, decided to appear. _'I just figured it out… What five things Ishizu wanted me to collect… And, I think that Angle's a reincarnation of Altair.'_

I almost yelled out, 'WHAT?'. But I didn't.

Well, if what Ren said was true, then it would make a lot of sense. Angel hated Lucifer, and Luzige (who looked like Lucifer… Sorry, forgot to mention that), had killed Altair, then Angel has a deep hatred that runs back thousands of years.

Who would have known?

I looked back at the still glowering Angel. She still wanted to kill Lucifer. A lot. It's better if she didn't know, or she'd blow up the entire world just to hunt down Lucifer… I shuddered at the thought. Yeah, I think I'll keep that little piece of information to myself…

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**Soo… R's had a rough life… Yeah. **

**I'm sorry if I call Renenet/Eshe, R on accident. It's just habit! Alright, so you know part of the story… And Blood's here! So, things are going to get heated soon… Oh, and try to remember the Hourglass glowed… It's important in the next season. It's ok if you don't though, I'll just remind you when the chapter comes.**

**Alright, questions, feel free to ask… And I just had to add a happy moment with the plushies. xD R will always be R, and be childish… Agh! I called her R again! -.- And please, when reviewing, try not to give any of the important info out… So that if someone reads it, it won't spoil the story? Please? You'd be doing me a big favor. :)**

**Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and thanks for reading, as always! **


	12. Chapter 11 Tournament and Lucifer

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note: **

… **I swear, I want to stab something right now… Preferably something that writhes in pain and bleeds… xD My head's going to explode if I have to correct Eshe/Renenet's name again! Please, let me off the hook if you spot a mistake… I already have a big enough headache…**

**Chapter 11- Tournament and Lucifer**

_-Roxanna-_

Alright, I forgot to explain about Pete, Angel's favorite, as she puts it, 'super adorable pet'. She usually said it with a huge smile and a bunch of sparkles and hearts surrounding her. My translation: _Super lethal pet._ And I always said it with frown and a shadow of dread over my face. Now you know how much I _love_ that snake.

It was known at the orphanage that ever since Angel arrived, she had Pete. The poisonous King Cobra. Though Pete didn't bother you, unless you were Lucifer, or you attempted to harm Angel. So, all was peaceful at the orphanage, right? Wrong.

Now, this is one of the few times I actually really sympathize with Lucifer. That snake attacked him at least once a week, sometimes even more often, though Lucifer managed not to get bitten by some sort of miracle. But the attacking snake sent most people into panic every time it attacked, and chaos would insure. You know, kids running around, screaming, scared out of their little puny minds. Some of the staff joined in the chaos as well, running as fast and far as their legs could take them. Eventually, the manager of the orphanage forced Angel to take Pete away, or he'd hire someone to kill Pete.

Angel was devastated. So she built a special little 'home' (It was about the size of a car.) for Pete out of wood a mile away from the orphanage. I had to help, and Angel even managed to drag Lucifer into helping. Pete stayed there and Angel visited him every day (So yes, she walked a mile there and a mile back every day… Sometimes, she'd drag me with her as well. The things I do for my friends…). Until, she was adopted. Angel took Pete away along with her, and I hadn't seen her or that snake in years.

Well, right now, she's back… And she's complaining to me. "It's not fair… My parents are nice and all, but they always treat me like a little kid. I'm an adult after all." Angel pouted.

I tried to not say that she really was a little kid at heart… A very cunning, evil little kid at that. You know, you'd never know she's eighteen years old… Unless someone told you, I mean she acts childish and she looks too cute and innocent. "Ah… So how's your dueling going?" I was quick to change the subject. Discussing her age usually led to talking about her height, and that usually led to talking about Lucifer (Because he's so much taller than her.)… And that led to a very angry Angel. I didn't need that.

"Better, I guess… Hey, how about when the tournament starts, me and you duel?" Angel asked, her eyes glimmering with a type of confidence I've never seen in her.

"Sure," I replied, smirking as I did so. "I'll be looking forward to beating you, like all those other times."

Angel glared at me, though she couldn't help but smile a little. She knew she couldn't really duel back then. "Hey, I'm not as bad as I was before!"

"Ah, we'll see…" I chuckled, and received a painful poke to my bandaged arm. The one that was injured during the fire, so the poke felt much more like a painful jab. "Ow! Stop that!"

And with that, Angel smirked, and continued to mercilessly poke at my injured arm. I could tell she was only joking around, and didn't notice that my arm was actually wounded. But that still didn't change the fact that my arm was hurting. A lot…

"Alright, stop!" I swatted her hands away. "I'm sorry already! Just don't make my already messed up arm any worse, please!"

Angel blinked, and seemed to have finally noticed the bandages around my left arm. "Oh… Whoops, sorry about that… I didn't mean to…" And she gave me that one look that begged me to forgive her. One of those looks that you can't resist, no matter what. It didn't help that she looked ready to burst into tears.

I sighed. "Ok, ok, it's fine, just don't start crying!" Gees, it was like _I_ was the one that did something wrong… And I was the one getting hurt. Life just isn't fair, is it?

"… Ok…" Angel sniffed, and wiped the fake tears that were starting to build up in her eyes. She poked my arm once more, and then blew a raspberry at me. "Haha!"

It's official, my life sucks. I sighed, and rubbed my arm to try to ease the pain. Would anyone like to switch places with me and deal with Angel instead? Please?

* * *

"We're here!" Angel announced, looking thoroughly pleased, as if she'd just accomplished something important. _All we did was walk around aimlessly till we found the place…_ "Oh, there are a lot of people… If they're all in the tournament, there's gonna be a lot of competition. I'm already excited!"

I didn't exactly share the same enthusiasm as Angel. You know where the meeting place was? Domino Square… A place I was very familiar with. I groaned inwardly, thinking that I should have read the letter and saved myself a lot of time…

A few people strolled by the Square, talking and laughing, while some people kind of stood in the same spot or sat somewhere, as if waiting for something. All around the Square were buildings, most of them with the lights still on. Some of the buildings had a few bright TV screens on them, showing commercials for different products and companies. Street lamps lit up the dark streets, supposedly to stop people from wandering blindly in the dark.

"… Hey, Roxy?" Angel caught my attention. She looked really uncomfortable and nervous as she shuffled her feet and twiddled her fingers. "I uh… Kinda need to tell you something important… It's kinda the whole reason I really came to Japan…"

I blinked. Angel _never _acted like this. I wonder what could make her feel like this. "Alright, what is it?"

"Uh… Well, you see, it's just that… Um… How should I put this without you flipping out? Hmm…" She tapped her chin thoughtfully while frowning and furrowing her eyebrows. "Uh… Huh?" She looked behind me, and blinked a few times. "Wait, a sec, Roxy, I'll be right back." She rushed off, towards whatever she'd been looking at before.

And I was really confused. What could she ever tell me that would make me 'flip out'? Out of curiosity, I looked behind me, to see what was so interesting to Angel. What I saw shocked me. The world is just full of never ending surprises…

Dusk, the person from the museum that R told me about. As usual, he had his mask. But something about him seemed a little… Off. He didn't have that one aura around him anymore. Well, anyway, Dusk was talking to Angel… I didn't even know that the two of them knew each other, so that was a big surprise. But they didn't seem to be having a 'haha, that is so funny' conversation. Angel had her arms crossed over her chest, looking very annoyed. She was yelling at Dusk, and Dusk was yelling back, having some sort of argument. At first it was just yelling, but then they added other aggravated movements, like waving their arms in the air angrily. I tried straining my ear to hear what they were saying, but they were just too far away.

Angel came running back to me, still looking unhappy, with a little pout on her face. "Sorry about that… I was trying to convince a 'friend' of mine about something. But he's just too stubborn." The way she said 'friend' sounded like how a person might say 'that annoying bug over there'. I don't think I've ever heard her sound this annoyed with anyone.

I nodded like I understood whatever she said. But I was so lost. When had she ever known Dusk? Maybe they met on accident like Ren and him did? But then why did they seem to bicker like they've known each other for a while? "Uh huh… So do you mind if I ask who your friend is? And what you were going to tell me before?"

Angel waved her hands in front of her, a bit too frantically. "Oh, he's just a, uh… Friend I met back in America! He's not really anyone important! And what I was going to tell you, I uh… I forgot! Yeah, that's it, I forgot, I'm so sorry!"

She was such a horrible liar, especially when it came to important things back then in the orphanage, and apparently she still is. I sighed. There was no point in trying to get the truth out of her. She'd just spit out more lies. "Alright, if you say so… If you remember tell me, ok?" The true meaning to what I said: _Ok, I know you're lying, Angel, because you can't lie, even if your life depended on it. Tell me whenever you feel like you can, I guess._

I didn't know if she understood what I meant, but Angel nodded. "I will. Oh, I'll be back later, I have to go _talk_ to my friend again." She sent a glare back in Dusk's direction, and left. Again.

I let out a sigh. "Why can't everyone just give me a straight answer for once…?" Bored, I glanced around my surroundings, and my eyes widened. _No, no, no, no, no! Why here? What is this, reunion day or something?_

I couldn't stay here anymore. Not when both of them were here, within a few feet of each other.

So I left Ren to deal with the trouble. (And yes, that's my nickname for her from now on!)

_

* * *

_

-Renenet-

I blinked, a little confused at my surroundings. Then, I started to panic. No, I did not need to be out of the Hourglass right now! Maybe Roxy didn't understand my situation well enough… The thing is… I'm scared. Scared I'll mess up, and end up killing myself, along with whatever I hold dear…

Now, I was a bit annoyed at the sudden switch, so I decided to see what Roxy was so keen to get away from. My eyes scanned around, and found the reason.

Lucifer. Lucifer Hades.

It was definitely him. Tall dude, messy white hair, and glowing yellow eyes. I'll admit, when I saw him, I shivered. After all, he looked so much like Luzige, who killed Niu, and almost burned me along with him. But, somehow, Lucifer seemed different. Back then in Duelist Kingdom, he seemed to radiate with arrogance and a sort of anger I didn't understand.

Lucifer was standing in an alleyway, yelling into a phone. He seemed really frustrated, having an argument with the person on the other end. He didn't seem confident anymore… He seemed torn and upset.

I understood why Roxy left now. She didn't want to see what happens if Angel and Lucifer were to meet. Now, if Angel did see Lucifer… She'd probably blow up half the earth just to try to kill him.

Lucifer angrily pressed a button on his phone, probably hanging up. Then, he slowly looked towards me, and our eyes locked. And somehow, I knew what he was thinking.

This was it. The start of the race. I don't know how Lucifer knows about it, but he does. I'm just not sure what he's going to do, look for that, or try to gather the five of them…

Ok, you might be confused, so I'll explain. You see, the same day of the fire, something else was made, other than the Millennium Hourglass. The Sundial. More precisely, the Cursed Dial. Luzige had accidentally took it, but lost it in the deserts of Egypt. The Dial was very dangerous, because it has no set rules on how to use it. Legend has it though, if you kill someone on the night or day of an eclipse, and you are in possession of the Dial, you'll have full control over the world. Not sure how that works though. And there are many other ways that you could kind of send the world spiraling into destruction… Though, I don't know any of them.

The Dial still hasn't been found. I don't know how I know that, but I'm sure it's still somewhere deep beneath the sands of Egypt.

So right now, there are two ways of obtaining the full powers of the Dial. One, is to find it, which is virtually impossible, though that actually would be more effective in the amount of power the wielder would receive.

The other would be to find the five monsters that were involved in the night of the fire that killed Altair, Chione, and Niu. Not that they're monsters anymore… They're in the form of Duel Monster cards. This was still hard, because I don't know where all the cards are scattered in the world… Though, I did have two of the five cards; the Legendary Ice Angel and Altair. As for the other three cards; Ice Mirror Dragon, Fire Phoenix, and Dark Flame Dragon… I had no idea where they were. Maybe they were all the way on the other side of the world…

Alright, so you might be thinking that if nobody finds the Dial, that nothing will go wrong, right? It won't matter that I don't find the cards. Wrong. You need all five cards to obtain _full_ power. But, you can obtain a portion of the power by getting both 'Fire' (Fire Phoenix and Dark Flame Dragon), or 'Ice' (Legendary Ice Angel and Ice Mirror Dragon), or 'Bird' (Altair and Fire Phoenix) cards. If a person manages to get their hands on one of the pairs, then they could accidentally (or purposely) destroy a third of the world. That hasn't happened yet… So that's a good thing. But still, if I don't do anything about it that might…

I was so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed Lucifer had quietly slipped away. Or that someone had walked right behind me. A tap to my shoulder made me return back to reality. My first reaction was to flinch and turn pale. I vaguely remember something about someone tapping my shoulder like that before, and then, when I turned around… The blade, the pain… So much blood…

I was scared, but I turned around anyway. I sighed, relieved, when I saw it was just Yami. "Oh, it's just you! Hehe, I thought it was someone else for a second…"

I felt uncomfortable around Yami now… I mean, not only could I not really help him at all with all the missing parts in my memory, and I might kill him… But there's still the social status part… I mean, even though I was a warrior/ newbie magician, most people looked upon me to be even lower than a slave. Compared to me being the lowest of the low, Yami was the highest rank, Pharaoh.

Yami raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Who'd you think I was?"

"Ah… Nobody important…" I lied. You know, that not important person just attempted to kill me. Not important at all. What annoys me is that I have no idea who it was. "So, another tournament… Seems like just yesterday it was Duelist Kingdom though…"

I call Duelist Kingdom a good memory, though Roxy called it a nightmare at first. She's just not that good with people… And stubborn. Even if she was having a good time back then, she'd probably have just pretended to be bored anyway.

"Yeah, I guess," Yami shrugged. "So are you ready for the tournament, Rene?" **(Rene is pronounced: Ren- Eh.)**

My eyes seemed to suddenly spark with life. "So you do remember!"

Yami blinked. "Remember what?"

I sighed, my mood plummeting again. I was a little disappointed. I guess I shouldn't have hoped for that much… "Nah, it's nothing…" There was still a part of me that wished that Yami might have remembered me… Though I know it's pretty much impossible.

I just wished he would have at least remembered the first time we met… I mean, how would you feel if one of your best friends just suddenly forgot about you?

_

* * *

_

I laughed, as I ran down the halls in the palace, a devious grin on my face. It was that same game again… While I was skipping class, my teacher would try to find and drag me back. In one hand, I was clutching a random book I had found lying around on magic. I was planning on reading that instead of those other boring books I was forced to read.

_And then I accidentally ran into someone. The two of us both stumbled backwards, though we managed not to fall. _

"_Sorry!" I apologized. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Uh… Anyway, who are you? I haven't seen you around before." It was pretty common for me to not know who was in the palace, since I stayed locked up in my room most of the time._

_In front of me stood a boy, looking to be about my age. He had the unique hairstyle, spiky with three different colors; magenta, black, and gold. He was wearing a lot of gold, so I guessed he must be important. Either that or he was a thief._

_The boy stood a little taller and straighter. I guess he was trying to look more formal and intimidating… Though he wasn't doing such a good job at it, after all, he was still just a kid. "You don't know me? Well, I'm the Prince of Egypt."_

_I blinked, a little surprised, and replied. "That's cool."_

_The boy looked confused. "… Is that all? That's cool?" I nodded, and shrugged. What else could I say? Nice looking hair? "You know, most people bow before me when I say that."_

"_Oh… I'm supposed to do that?" I asked, and he anime fell. I sweat dropped, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Oh, sorry about that…"_

_The boy got up, and sighed, though he didn't look angry. He looked amused. "That's fine… What's your name?"_

"_Renenet." I replied quickly while looking behind my shoulder. I hope my teacher isn't nearby… I hate going to my classes…_

"_Huh? Can you say your name again?" He blinked. _

"_Ren. En. Et." I said, a little slower this time, separating the syllables._

"_Renenenenenehhhhh- Gah, I can't remember that! You know what, I'm just going to call you Rene!" The boy declared, as if he had the right to change my name. Though I guess he kind of did, being the Prince and all… Grr, royalty and all their privileges!_

_I laughed at his trouble over saying my name. "Alright, whatever you say… I guess I'll call you Prince then."_

* * *

Ah, that was the first time we met… And how he got me my nickname… But, I'm not really sure I want him to remember the second time we met… That wasn't the happiest time I remember… It was kind of embarrassing…

_

* * *

_

I was balancing myself on stone railing of the balcony. Towards my right, was the balcony, where I would jump back to when I grew bored of this activity. On my left, was air, and far below that, ground. So it was a game of testing my balance, as well as my courage, in a way. If I fell, I might break a bone or something…

_I carefully moved my left foot so that it was in front of my right, and then my right foot so it was in front of my left. With slow, careful movements, I was walking along the thin railing, while thinking about random things. This wasn't how I usually occupied myself, but hey, I wanted to try something new today. _

"_Rene!" I'd heard that voice before, though I can't remember where… "What are you doing? Get down from there! You'll get hurt!" I looked towards my left, and saw a familiar face below. It was the Prince that I met a while ago. And he looked both angry and worried at the same time. _

"_No." I replied cheekily, taking another few steps. I didn't like being told what to do, and everyone who knew me well enough knew that. I got very ticked off when that happened. That's one of the only times I've ever really been angry. After all, I was already forced to stay in the palace all the time and I could barely put up with that. If anyone would force me to do anything else, I'd explode in fury._

"_As the Prince of Egypt, I order you to get down!" The prince yelled. "You'll fall if you don't!"_

_And, I got ticked. Nobody 'ordered' me to do anything, not him, not anyone! "Look, I don't care if you're the Prince of Egypt, or the Pharaoh for that matter! Heck, you could be King of the World and all the Egyptian Gods, and you still wouldn't be able to tell me what to do! I- AH!"_

_When I was yelling at Prince, I wasn't paying attention to my footsteps anymore, and my foot slipped. I fell, towards the left, towards the empty space. Time seemed to slow, as I realized that I might just die from this fall. Just because I accidentally took a wrong step…_

"_Ren!" Someone, though I couldn't remember his face, rushed towards me, from the balcony. He reached his hand out, hoping to grasp mine. But our fingers didn't even brush. "REN!"_

"_Brother!" I plummeted down, and the weirdest part was, I wasn't scared. Though I was disappointed that I might be dying, just because I accidentally slipped. I was so stupid._

"_Rene!" That was the last thing I heard, before the back of my head connected to the ground, and I blacked out. _

* * *

Yeah… I didn't really want him to remember me yelling at him… Heh, he… After all, it wasn't the best thing to disobey a direct order from the Prince of Egypt. It was a rather rude thing, and there were some pretty harsh punishments for that…

On another topic, with my name… It was a bit complicated. After the Inferno's Curse incident, a lot of people started calling me Eshe. My close friends called me Ren and Reny… But never Renenet. I never wanted to be called that again. But, only one person had to have a unique nickname for me… Yami. Though Yami wasn't his real name… I forgot what his name was. Anyway, he called me Rene, just like he always did… Haha, he couldn't really say my real name… I don't know why, but I find it funny…

Another weird thing… From that memory, I could infer I had a brother… Though, I have no recollection of him whatsoever… Not a face, not a name… And I think that was the only time I ever said that… Brother… Did I even have one? If I did, what happened to him? I mean… Why don't I remember him?

"Rene," I blinked. Oh, Yami was talking to me. "Are you listening?"

"Oh, sorry, I was just… Thinking. Spacing out about something stupid…" I scratched my head and smiled sheepishly. Ah, that was just like me to start drifting off into my own little world when someone's trying to talk to me. "Hey, I-" I stopped and shivered. Something felt different… Like it just suddenly got colder … No, it wasn't that… But, something did seem strange…

"Do you sense it too?" Yami asked. "That strange aura?" So I wasn't just imagining it… But what was it? Maybe…?

"… Yeah, I think it's-" I was interrupted before I could finish my thought.

"Yugi, Roxy!" A familiar voice rang in the air, sounding very energetic. It was a girl, and she was running towards Yami and I, waving her hand. She had blonde hair, and was wearing a sort of lavender and white outfit. Her deck holster was strapped around her left thigh, and she had a bag slung over her shoulder. She was very familiar…

I was surprised at who it was, and smiled. "Mai!" Though Roxy felt a bit indifferent about her back in Duelist Kingdom, I thought Mai was a pretty cool friend. It's been a while since we've seen her though. Must have been a coincidence that she was walking by. "What are you doing here for?"

"The tournament of course," Mai replied. "I'm guessing that's what you two are here for?"

"Yep." I nodded, a little surprised. It was really starting to look just like Duelist Kingdom all over again… Except this time me and Roxy actually had friends… The thought made me smile. Before Duelist Kingdom, there was nothing I could do to convince Roxy on even thinking about having friends. It's amazing that Yugi and the others could change her so much.

"Say, Roxy…" I blinked, and before I knew it, Mai was smirking and had me in a headlock. I flailed my arms around frantically when I started to choke. Yami blinked curiously at the scene. "This isn't a date is it?"

My face turned bright red, and it wasn't because I was starting to suffocate. Me? On a date? Yami and I were only friends, I couldn't even imagine that! "N-Noooo!" I stuttered, looking around for some sort of excuse. It was kind of hard though, since Mai was choking me with a headlock. "Ha, see, my friend's with me too, s-so it c-can't be a date! She's o-over there… ANGEEEEEL! HELP ME!" I managed to wriggle away from Mai, but my relief was short lived.

"Roxy!" A blur came flying towards me, and I was tackled to the ground. The blur is most commonly known as Angel, my 'savior'. More like the person who's going to kill me one day with a tackle.

"Gah, Angel, this is the second time you've done that today… I don't think my back's going to last for long if you keep this up…" I muttered, and the two of us got up, with me rubbing my sore back.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Roxy…" Angel muttered, but she quickly did one of her sweet smiles again. One that had mischief written all over it. "Would you mind introducing me to your friends?"

Oh right, Yami and Mai… They were still here. Though, I had to tell Angel that Yami was Yugi… "Alright, Angel, that's Yugi, and that's Mai. Mai and Yugi, that's Angel… My friend."

"Yep, I met Roxy back at the orphanage, and we're best buddies!" Angel smiled. "Pleased to meet the two of you… Oh! Wait, you're Yugi, as in Yugi Mutou, the King of Games right?"

"Uh… Yeah…" Yami looked a bit uncomfortable, and I remembered that Roxy told Yugi about Angel… And her crazy blood craving side… I guess he imagined someone a little… Less innocent looking?

"Wow, really? That's cool! And you're Mai Valentine, right? You got into the finals for Duelist Kingdom too!" Angel turned to Mai this time. "I never knew Roxy made friends like you two!"

"Say, Angel, what's your full name?" Mai asked, with a sweat drop. I guess she wasn't used to the sudden attention she was getting.

"Me?" Angel blinked innocently. "Aww, my full name… Well, I did come from America, so my name's American… But I got kicked out of my old orphanage and got sent to one in Japan… I dunno why though…" _It's because you're a psychopath? _"And then when I got adopted, I want back to America. But anyway, my name's Angel Death Darksong. But most people just call me Angel or Blood." Angel flashed another cute smile.

The rest of us were silent.

Alright, what kind of parents did she have? Alright, Angel, that sounds like a good name I guess… But _Death_ as a middle name? And I'm not going to comment on her eerie last name… I'll admit, I never really thought about the rest of her name, and so I never asked about it. But now that I know, I'm seriously wondering if it was her parents that twisted Angel into the person she is today…

"That's a very… Nice name…" Yami managed. "So, uh, if you're supposed to be living in America, why are you here in Japan?"

"Well, I'm here for two reasons. One's the tournament, since I got an invite. The other is that I have to-" Angel glanced towards me and paused, giving me an apologetic smile. Then she turned towards Yami and winked. "Sorry, but that's a secret!"

I tried not to seem to upset at the information being hidden from me (well, really from Roxy), but I was really curious. Why wouldn't she tell me? I tried to change to topic. "So, did you guys see who was hosting the tournament? I didn't read my invite, so I don't know."

All three of them shook their heads.

Angel sighed, and did her famous pout. "Stupid person left out their name…"

"Mine was anonymous too." Yami replied. "Apparently, whoever's the host, they want to keep the identity hidden for the time being…"

"Well, I've asked a bunch of people, and they all said the invites were anonymous." Mai nodded. "But I think only a person with a ton of money could host a tournament, and I'm pretty sure it's not Pegasus this time…"

My first thought was Kaiba… But there was one thing I really didn't get. Why would Kaiba want to host a tournament? I knew he always had his reasons for doing something… What are his motives this time…? Or maybe it's not him?

But, in a way, only Kaiba could pull this off. Having so many people meet up here in a very busy part of Domino City and having to find out all their addresses to send the invites to would have taken a lot of searching and paperwork. (Though it does kind of sound kind of stalker-ish… Very stalker-ish…) Not to mention, a lot of money would have to go into the tournament, if it's going to need dueling arenas again…

"Speaking of Pegasus, this is starting to look like Duelist Kingdom all over again, isn't it?" Yami commented, and pointed. "Look over there."

Standing around, with very evil smirks on their faces were Weevil Underwood and… Some other guy that I didn't know… Well, Weevil still had the same greenish-bluish haircut and his huge circular yellow rimmed glasses. The other guy had messy brown hair with a few strands of lavender hair, hidden under a red hat…

I sweat dropped, remembering that Roxy wasn't too fond of hats…

"Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor." Mai said, sounding disgusted when speaking their names.

So the other dude was Rex? I'm pretty sure I've heard of his name before… Maybe on TV or something. But I've never actually met him during Duelist Kingdom… Maybe Yugi and the others did? By the looks of it though, he didn't sound like a good friend of theirs…

"And over there's Espa Roba," Mai motioned towards another unfamiliar face. There was a whole group of kids, some taller, others shorter, but they all had the same green haircut. I guess the one standing up with a determined look on his face must have been Espa Roba… "They say he uses psychic powers to duel. And the rest of them over there are his brothers."

"Brothers and psychic powers, huh…" I murmured, starting to drift away into my own thoughts again. Well, I kind of doubted the psychic powers, but hey, there have been so many things that seemed impossible but happened. Take the Millennium Items for example. Their powers are just so mysterious and strange… So, why can't a person have psychic powers? I guess I'll see if it's really true if I manage to duel him…

But the brothers part kind of caught me off guard… I don't know why, but I still wondered about my own 'brother'… If I had one. You know what? I hated this. I hated knowing, but only knowing a portion of the whole truth. It left me even more hurt and confused than when I didn't know. I would rather just forget everything, or just remember anything… Though I'd prefer not to remember anything at all. After all, ignorance is a bliss, right?

Now that I think about it though, Roxy really does have it tough… She's had to deal with remembering losing so many people. I sometimes wonder why she bothers even remembering all the tragedies… Wouldn't she feel happier by forgetting?

I vaguely heard the others saying something about seeing 'Mako Tsunami', this guy with spiky black hair, who was enjoying some fried fish. I just nodded my head half heartedly, my mind still focused on all the thoughts that I was dwelling on. About my family, about my friends, about myself, about Roxy, about all the 'what ifs'.

Like, what if Roxy's family had remained perfect and never died in that accident? Would the Hourglass have just been put in some sort of Museum, with me trapped in it for eternity? Would that be better than right now, with me worrying about so much?

What if Lucifer never killed Roxy's adoptive dad? Then Roxy would have never gone back to Domino City, and she would have never met Yugi and the others. Would she be happier like that, or does she prefer her current life?

What if Roxy had just let herself to be swallowed by misery, back when she was all alone? When she had lost her 'best friend', Lucifer, and her adoptive father? Would she have just given up on life? Or would she have returned to the orphanage, just to be adopted again? Where would she end up then? I mean, she could have been taken anywhere…

What if Roxy had refused to be friends with Yugi and the others? She'd probably be lonely and bitter the rest of her life… And so would I, eventually…

What if… What if…

You know, now that I think about it, there are so many 'what ifs' that could have happened… Some of them better than others… Those 'what ifs' would change everything… But, there's no way to change the past. I guess you just have to deal with what you have and appreciate it. I mean, I guess life could be worse…

That's it… A person should appreciate the present, and not grieve over the past or worry too much over the future. When I realized that, I felt much better and determined. If that prophecy said I was going to die, I'm going to enjoy what's left of my life to the fullest! And I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure that Yami's not going to die. That's the least I can do… And, I need to collect all those five cards, though I have no idea how I'm going to do that yet…

"Roxy, you ok?" Angel poked me, pulling me out of the deep depths of my thoughts. "You weren't responding to any of us earlier…" She really did look worried.

I smiled widely, and replied. "Of course I am! I've never felt better!" And it was true. "I'm all excited for the tournament now!"

Angel sighed, relieved. "Alright, then! Now if the host of the tournament would just show their face…" She was starting to get impatient. "If they don't show up soon, I'm going to whack them with a hat…"

"Why a hat?" Mai, Yami, and I sweat dropped. Angel never ceased to surprise us…

But, it was that comment that reminded me about something. Lucifer. He wasn't wearing his hat today. And he always did, or at least that's what Roxy told me… What was that supposed to mean?

I remember Roxy telling me… _"Oh Lucifer's hat… He has it with him everywhere… He told me it was from someone special to him… Though when I asked him who it was, he'd just look depressed and heartbroken. So I never really pressured him about it. Ugh, why do you even care about his stupid hat anyway? It's just a hat, probably from his parents or something… Though he never talks about his family… I wonder why, I mean did they… Agh, why am I worrying about that stupid jerk? I hate him and everything about him! I don't care what happens to him! He could jump off a building for all I care!"_

That's Roxy, always stubborn, even to herself. Whenever she's worried about Lucifer, she'd just try to deny it. I know there's still a part of her somewhere that wishes they could have stayed friends… I just wish she could stop lying to herself…

"FINALLY!" Angel yelled, pointing towards a TV screen. "Looks like our host decided to show up after all…"

And, you know who's face appeared there? None other than Seto Kaiba. His face replaced all the commercials that were on, and everyone in the square started to talk amongst themselves about the sudden appearance of the famous CEO. Kaiba had this one smirk on his face, and his blue eyes shone with determination. He looked as confident and serious as ever.

"… Is that Seto?" Angel blinked, as if she couldn't believe it was him of all people. "How come the Chess Nerd's holding a tournament?"

The rest of us sweat dropped, and I laughed nervously. Angel never really liked Kaiba all that much, according to Roxy. "Aww, come on, you're just mad because he always beats you in chess…" And for that comment, I received a painful punch to my bandaged arm. Then I shut up.

Alright, so it really was Kaiba… And I had a feeling that the reason he was holding this tournament was to gain the title 'King of Games' from Yugi and Yami…

Oh well, whatever the reason, he gathered all of us here, and we're just waiting for him to start explaining the whole tournament business… Surprisingly, everyone in the Square went silent, expecting Kaiba to do something…

"Welcome, Duelists, to Battle City!" Kaiba announced, and the crowd in the Square erupted in conversations, talking about their own opinions on the tournament. Most of them sounded impressed and excited.

Well, I just smiled. To say that I was excited would be an understatement. I was ecstatic. But somehow, I couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad might happen… Nah, I'm just worrying too much…

_

* * *

_

-Lucifer-

I gazed down at the Square from the rooftop of one of the buildings nearby. My head felt so light for some odd reason, and I remembered that I wasn't wearing my hat. I clenched my fists, and grinded my teeth. My heart felt like it was about to break into a million pieces, and tears were starting to build up in my eyes. I couldn't care less about any old hat… But that hat was a special gift from her… It seems like there's no hope for me though… I should just-

_No._

I couldn't just give up now. Not after I've gotten this far and deep into this life I chose to live… I had to stay strong for the both of us…

"The problem is… I don't know who I care about more…" I muttered. "_Her_, or the closest friend I've ever had… I don't want to hurt either of them… But if I don't do what that devil asked, both of them will just end up getting harmed… Oh, what should I do? I wish I had someone to tell me what to do… Anyone… I'm so lost, so confused… Why does life have to be like this? Why can't I just go back to when everything was so simple?"

I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a picture. It was just her, laughing, as she was running through a meadow of flowers… Oh, I wish I could just see her laugh like that again… But all that changed after… After… That. The incident…

I bit my lip, and this time I couldn't hold in my tears any more. They trickled down my face, splattering onto the floor. "… Crystal, I promised I'd save you. I'll find a way, sis, don't worry… Just hang in there a little longer, alright?"

My sister, Crystal, in that picture… It was amazing how much she reminded me of Roxy… They both had the same bright smile that could warm any person's heart. They could have been twins… The only difference would have to be their eye and hair color. Crystal had crimson colored hair, and kind, deep red eyes. She was the sweetest little girl and she couldn't hurt a fly, just because she couldn't stand anyone or anything getting injured. Crystal was nice to everyone, no matter what. That's just how she was always so kind… Her of all people shouldn't deserve to… To… Be like this, right? To be so close to falling into the pit of death? Which just proves that life is never fair… It just figures that the kindest person on Earth has to suffer so much…

"… Roxy, I'm really sorry about this… But family comes first. You of all people should understand, right? I mean, you'd probably do the same if you were in my position…" I sighed. My heart felt like it was being torn in two. Aw, gees, why couldn't I have a normal life…? You know, where my parents never died driving off a cliff, and my sister's not on the brink of death? One where my boss isn't like the exact replica of the devil? And one where I'm not having to choose between losing my own sister or my 'best friend'…

Though, Roxy probably hates me, and considers me to be her enemy… After all, I did take away so much from her… Her adoptive father, her home, one of her most treasured items… And I really regret doing all of that, I really do… But I was blinded by anger at the time. That's no excuse, but still… I don't get why she had to… She had to…

_Ugh, Lucifer, stop thinking about that! She probably has her own reasons, just like you have your own. Now get off your lazy butt and go complete your mission you were assigned! Or Mr. Devil's not going to be very happy with you… He's going to act all disappointed and wag a finger in front of your face… And then he threatens your sister. That coward just has to use her against you, doesn't he? One day, when the deal expires, you should just go and give him a good bop in the face for all the things he put you through._

The only thing that kept me from going insane from talking to myself was the thought of fighting for my sister. And no, my boss's name isn't Mr. Devil… That's just my nickname for the guy, since I don't classify him as a human being. He could be the devil himself, from how evil he was…

I stood up straighter, still clutching Crystal's photo. "After I finish this, I'm going straight back to Egypt to look for that Dial again… I never get any breaks… But if that's the price I have to pay to save Crystal, I don't care what I have to do."

I took one more look at the Square, where everyone was all hyped up about the new Duel Monsters Tournament. "… You know, there was a time when I dueled just for fun, and maybe for a little fame… But now, I think I absolutely hate this game." I scoffed. "There's only one reason I even duel anymore… And that's for my sister."

Then I smiled sadly. "I guess that's why I admire _him_… Too bad I'm assigned to kill him if necessary… And the way things are going now, I might just have to… Oh well, can't be helped, I guess… The guy just has some really bad luck, doesn't he?"

I tucked the photo back into my pocket, and pulled out a dangerously sharp knife from my pocket. "Huh, Crystal would be disappointed and devastated if she saw me right now… She always hated anything or anyone getting hurt. And to think I'm killing people left and right just for her." I mused, and sighed. I didn't really want to have to murder any of those people… But, I promised Crystal that I'd do anything to keep her safe. And that meant anything.

But I remembered that I'd promised Roxy that we'd be best friends no matter what… It broke my heart to think that I'd broken that promise… But… If I explained to Roxy, she'd understand… Right? I was seriously starting to doubt that she wouldn't… I couldn't expect he to, after all the things I did to her…

I shook my head. I could _not_ start having second thoughts about all of this. I made my choice a long time ago… And if I have to blame anyone for my suckish hell of a life, I'd have to blame myself.

"Right, time to get to work…" I bit my lip, nervous like usual. I've done this so many times, but I'd always feel uncomfortable taking someone's life… I took in a deep breath, and snuck into the shadows, ready to stalk my prey. The prey that has eluded me for so long…

I made sure to hide my knife carefully, so that nobody would notice the glint it would make when the moonlight shone on it. So they wouldn't see their death coming…

The least I could do was to make it a quick and painless death, right?

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

… **Alright, so Lucifer has a sister… And his parents drove off a cliff… You must be thinking: So, why is that important?**

**It is **_**very**_** important! And if you couldn't tell from the hints, the hat was a gift from Crystal. Alright, I'll admit it right now; my story is very confusing… But feel free to ask any questions. ^^ **

**So… Now, I want me to tell me your opinion on Lucifer. I just want to see what you guys think about him now…**

**Oh, and I made the chapter really loooooong. Or at least I think it's long. ^^'**

**Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated. We authors love them, if you don't know that… ^^' **


	13. Chapter 12 Deeper in the Dark

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note: **

**Alright, I'd like to address this one comment I got about me revealing too much in this season? Well… I'm not. I'm still kind of leaving you guys in the dark with a broken flashlight… xD So don't worry, I've got plenty of stuff to write about for each season. ^^ Good for the readers, but bad for my poor characters… O_O**

**Chapter 12- Deeper in the Dark**

_-Renenet-_

Kaiba couldn't have made a better entrance. His face was on every single TV screen in the Square, grabbing everyone's attention. And his next words were, "Well, all of you here must have received an invitation to Kaiba Corp's tournament, and you guys had enough brains to show up tonight."

This sent everyone into uproar, complaining about the insult the CEO had just made. I wasn't that happy about it either, but Angel seemed even more annoyed, glowering at the TV screens, at Kaiba's face.

"I don't know which is bigger, his face on the big screen, or his ego…" Mai muttered.

"His ego." Angel growled. "Definitely his ego."

"Angel…" I sighed. "Be nice…" She simply pouted, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned away from me. A vein started popping out of my head. Angel could be such a stubborn little brat sometimes… And to think she's actually eighteen years old…

When the crowd calmed down a bit, Kaiba started talking again, "And since you're all elite duelists, I've added special rules in this tournament, just for experts."

Hmm… I wonder what kind of rules Kaiba added… The rules probably weren't just added for the heck of it. Kaiba always had a reason to do things.

I smiled a little to myself. Leave it to Kaiba to decide to add in a few new rules, even if he wasn't the creator of Duel Monsters… Which made me wonder, what would Pegasus think of having his own game's rules' changed?

Kaiba continued, "For example," On the screens, instead of seeing Kaiba's face, it went to show something attached to his arm. "You'll be using this newly improved Duel Disk to duel."

A lot of people seemed pretty impressed with the Duel Disk, murmuring amongst themselves about how 'cool' it was. I had to admit that it was much better than the dueling arenas.

The machine was wrapped around Kaiba's arm by a band of plastic, which was attached to a thin arrow shaped plastic board. The board was split into five sections, and each section had a red arrow on it. The design looked pretty simple, but I guess all the machinery and mechanisms must have been much more advanced if Kaiba took the time to get it made. So it was some kind of portable dueling device. These Duel Disks seemed much more efficient and easier to use in a city like Domino, than if we had to use those dueling arenas here.

Just imagine… Having all the tall buildings sink into the ground, and replaced with the huge dueling arenas… That would probably cause a lot of problems, so it might not be the best way to duel… Kaiba's duel disk seemed so much easier to use in Domino City.

"Another new rule that I designed for my tournament, is that before each duel, both players will have to ante up their rarest. And the loser of the duel will have to forfeit that card to the winner." Kaiba's smirk grew wider.

I was stunned. If I lost a duel I'd have to what? I had a feeling that Roxy wasn't going to like this rule at all… Especially since she loves all of her cards. Each one had a special meaning to her. Not that I was very happy about the prospect of losing _any_ of my cards… But this rule might be a little useful to me. If I wanted to collect the three other cards, this was my chance. Under normal circumstances, I could never take a card from a duel, so it would be impossible to get the three cards I needed without stealing. But I also had the problem of making sure I won't lose. If I did lose and I had to give away my Legendary Ice Angel or Altair card… Then I'd be even farther from getting all five cards.

But I was confused. Why would Kaiba create that rule? Maybe he wanted to get a specific card…?

"Forfeit my Dark Magician?" Yami growled. I guess Roxy wasn't the only one that wasn't happy with the rule. I recall the Dark Magician being Yami and Yugi's favorite card. They probably hated even the thought of maybe parting with it.

"So that means even losing one duel could ruin my deck!" Mai frowned. Back in Duelist Kingdom, each one of her cards were supporting each other, so if she were to lose one card… Her whole strategy would be wasted.

I expected Angel to throw a fit, but she didn't. Her face started to drain of color as she paled. "Shoot… If I lose then that means…!" Angel bit her lip. "I can't risk losing that card… What the heck was Chess Nerd thinking when he made this rule?"

I guess she had a card she really treasured as well. "Ugh, this rule is going to be pretty annoying… Losing's not really an option. And even if we keep winning and gaining rare cards, if they don't match with our decks, they won't be of any use…" I sighed, feeling a headache starting to form. Gees, this tournaments going to be pretty worrisome…

"Aww, what are you guys worrying about?" Angel smiled, looking fine again. "Since you guys are all superb duelists it'll be fine… You won't lose!" And then her smile suddenly faded, and she looked a little nervous, and muttered. "Just make sure all of you are careful… Some people don't fight fair… These duels might get dangerous…"

Dangerous… That word seemed to make me remember that time at the warehouse. Somehow, someone was able to control Keith. And he was after Yugi's Millennium Puzzle… Wait, did Angel know something about that? But how could she…?

I raised an eyebrow, confused, waiting for her to explain or the others to ask about her last statement. But it seemed that nobody else heard, and she didn't look like she was going to tell me anything more. So I looked back at the TV screen, waiting for Kaiba to tell us more.

"My competition is going to make Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom Tournament look like a joke!" Kaiba announced, rallying up the crowd again. Everyone was cheering, excited about the tournament. I have to admit, Kaiba did know how to host a tournament. With outrageous rules. And again, his entrance was pretty impressive.

All of a sudden, the wind picked up, blowing around leaves, messing up our hair, and the baggy parts of our clothes flapping around. The branches on the trees looked like they were going to fly off as well.

Everyone turned around, and looked upwards, to find the source of the gusts of wind. It was helicopter. The blades spun around rapidly, creating that familiar loud sound of a copter. And there, standing on the landing strut of the helicopter was none other than Kaiba. Alright, I take back what I said about his other entrance being impressive, because this one topped the other one. Leave it to Kaiba to arrive on a helicopter.

His usual coat was changed to a fancier, white one. On one arm, he had on a Duel Disk. His coat and brown hair was whipping around in the wind, his blue eyes staring down directly at Yami. But the stare soon turned into a glare, a challenging one.

Yami glared back, and the air felt tense. The two rivals exchanged a silent challenge. And both were equally determined to win.

I frowned. So the whole reason Kaiba organized this tournament was to duel Yugi and gain his 'King of Games' title? I knew that Kaiba valued titles to a great extent, but I didn't think this was his only reason to host the tournament. I mean, Kaiba could just challenge Yugi to a duel, and win that way instead of going through all the trouble of making a tournament. He must have another motive… But what?

Kaiba broke the glaring contest, and points his finger into the air, announcing, "Don't forget to register and pick up your Duel Disks, because exactly one week from today, the Battle City Tournament begins!" And cheering erupted once more. I swear… All this loud shouting's going to make me go deaf…

With one last glare, Kaiba's helicopter rose higher into the air, and started to fly off towards the tall Kaiba Corp building. I bet Kaiba had a lot of work to get done for the tournament…

And when the helicopter finally disappeared from sight, the huge crowd started to disperse, everyone walking back home. But they were still chatting about the tournament amongst themselves. I guess Kaiba left a lasting impression…

"Well, I gotta go," Mai said. "It's late, I have to get home. See you guys in the tournament, and good luck!"

"Yeah, bye!" We waved, and watched Mai run off.

"… Competition's going to be rough." Angel sighed. "All the best duelists are gathered here… Not to mention now that Kaiba's added the 'giving up your rarest card' rule, everyone's going to be trying extra hard to win."

"Yeah… I wonder why Kaiba added that rule though…" Yami furrowed his eyebrows, in deep thought. "He wouldn't have added the rule unless it benefited him in some way."

"Hmm… Maybe he wants a really rare card?" I suggested. But that was kind of hard to believe. If Kaiba wanted a card, he'd take it by force. Like he did with taking Yugi's Grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon card… He wouldn't bother to win it fairly.

"Maybe…" Yami shrugged, though he didn't look convinced.

"Hmph," When none of us noticed, Dusk had suddenly stepped in front of us. Angel gave him an overly annoyed look. Dusk had changed his mask to one that only hid eyes, and his lips were formed into a scowl. He looked really irritated, and he wasn't really talking to anyone in particular. "You know, this tournament's a waste of time."

I blinked. Somehow Dusk seemed really different. For one, there was no more of that weird accent. There was something else a little off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it… Wait, if he's here, then he must have got an invite too, right? But then why is he saying the tournament's a waste?

Yami must have seen the change in Dusk as well, because he cast him a weird look.

One of Angel's eyebrows was twitching, and a vein had started to pop at the top of her head. She looked like she wanted to punch someone. I scooted a little farther away from her, just in case she wanted to use me as a punching bag. "Dusk, what are you talking about? You're entering this thing too… And I suggest you leave. _Now_."

Dusk completely ignored Angel's command. "The whole point of this tournament is to get some sort of title right? All these stupid titles are worthless. So who cares who's the King of Games? In the end, if someone holds a knife up to your throat, none of those titles matter, do they?" Though he wasn't talking to Yugi/Yami, I had a feeling that was an insult directed towards him.

There was something really different about Dusk… He seemed to dislike Yugi for some odd reason… If Yami recognized the comment as an insult, he didn't say anything about it, nor did he seem bothered by it.

Dusk suddenly winced, and yelled, "Ow! Angel, what the heck was that for?"

For some odd reason, Angel had changed her sneakers she wore with high heels. Using the sharp heel, she had stomped into Dusk's foot. Angel looked really annoyed now, not to mention angry. "Dusk, I suggest you watch what you say. And no language, please." She dug the heel of her shoe back into Dusk's foot. Dusk let out another 'ow'. "Now, now, Dusk, unless you feel like you really have something of any sort importance, then I suggest shut your mouth. Got that?" Angel could be all nice if she wanted to… And then she turns into evil, mean mode. It's kind of scary how fast that happens.

Dusk glared at Angel. "Look, Angel, you don't understand anything. I shouldn't have asked for help, after all…" He managed to dodge the next attempt to injure his foot from Angel. "Don't get yourself involved with me, or you'll end up getting hurt."

"Look, don't worry a thing about me," Angel glared back at Dusk. "But you better watch your mouth. Just because you're jealous of the King of Games doesn't mean you can insult him like that!"

Dusk seemed to boil with anger at that comment. "You think I'm jealous of that starfish head?" Now Yami frowned a little. I guess his hair was a touchy subject… "I told you before, Angel, you don't understand the situation, so don't go jumping to any conclusions!"

"I don't understand anything?" Angel folded her arms in front of her chest, and her glare at Dusk intensified about ten times. "Alright, you're just being a brat now. I know more about this than you ever could! Now go apologize to Yugi!"

I was so confused. What where they talking about? Understand what? I glanced over to Angel, hoping for an answer from her. But she had her full attention on Dusk. Though I was kind of glad about that… I didn't want her eyes to burn holes through my head.

Dusk seemed eerily silent. He didn't talk, didn't' move. I don't know if he was even breathing… Then he suddenly burst to life by moving his head from side to side. His neck made loud cracking sounds as he did so, and I winced at the sound. I don't know, I just thought it was a bit creepy…

"Oh, I'm sorry, Angel and mister King of Games," Dusk leaned forward a little, bowing to the two of them. "For being so rude." This time, his weird accent had returned and a slight smile could be seen on his face.

But, Angel only seemed to be more irritated by his actions. "No! I don't want you to apologize, Niu! Force Dusk to!"

Dusk flinched at the word 'Niu'. "Gees, Angel, I told you not to call me that. And you of all people should know that Dusk is too stubborn to apologize. Just let it go, alright?"

Niu… My eyes widened. I knew that name… He was that one friend I had… The one that died in the fire! But then how is he…? Yami might have just realized the same thing, because his eyes were wide too.

It's like there's a never ending string of mysteries that happen and I'll never be able to solve them all… But I guess I figured something out. The one with the accent is Niu, and the one with the attitude is Dusk. xD

Angel's glare softened, and she sighed. "The stupid stubborn guy… But if I don't call you Niu, what am I supposed to call you?"

"I dunno, I guess I don't have a name then," Niu shrugged. "I don't deserve one anyway."

"… Ugh! I don't know who I dislike more, you or Dusk! The both of you are just so annoying, and you guys could drive anyone crazy… Agh!" Angel growled, and dragged Niu off. "If the two of you go near the Pharaoh, Yugi, Roxy, or Ren again without a good excuse, I'm going to murder you both!" Angel warned. Niu simply sweat dropped, not putting up any resistance as Angel pulled him towards a random direction. The two of them disappeared in the distance, though I could still faintly hear Angel hollering.

And then I noticed something strange. Angel seemed to have knowledge about Yami and I… But how? Ugh, it's like everyone else knows about everything but us! That's really frustrating… It's like being left in the dark in a maze without any sort of light and we're expected to find our way out. The others already know the way out, and they have a light source. And when we actually do get a candle, it just goes out quickly. That's how I feel right now, really lost, when almost everyone else is super clear on the situation. Those candles we get are 'clues' they leave us. Bust most of the information they give us is useless or makes no sense…

"What was that all about?" Yami asked, equally as lost as I was.

"… I don't know…" I sighed, scratching my head. "It's like everyone's hiding something from us, isn't it? It's really frustrating…"

"Maybe. But they probably have their reasons for not telling us." Yami shrugged. "I mean, Angel's a good friend of Roxy's, right? If she really is a good friend, she'll know what things to tell her and what not to, to protect her. Besides, we should worry about the tournament first, right? If Ishizu told us about it, it must be important in some way…"

I sighed. "I guess… I just don't like it when secrets are kept from me… So does that mean you're registering for the tournament?"

"Yeah," Yami nodded. "Are you?"

I smiled slightly. "Yep." I didn't want to tell him I had to go find three specific cards. He'd just worry, and that wasn't necessary. I mentally laughed. I said that I hated when secrets were kept from me, but I'm keeping my own secrets too. How ironic… I guess I couldn't blame others from keeping information from me then…

"… Uh, I'll guess I'll see you later?" I muttered, noticing the dark sky that hovered above us. Even though Roxy got to choose her bedtime, I didn't want her to stay up too late. She gets in a very bad mood when she doesn't get enough sleep…

"Sure." Yami replied, and the two of us went our separate ways.

But I hesitated for a second. I hadn't walked really far yet, and I had a feeling I needed to say something. "Yami?"

"Hmm?" He stopped in mid-step, and turned to face me.

"Thanks," I smiled slightly. "Today's been a little… Weird, and even though I didn't expect to remember all that… But it's been fun. At least better than spending a weekend coped up in the bookstore." Weird was an understatement, with Dusk, Angel, and the whole tournament. But I wasn't lying when saying I had a good time today. "Well, I guess that's about it… And good luck in the tournament."

"You're welcome, and same to you," Yami nodded. "But are you sure you're going to be alright going home on your own?"

"Psh, me? Of course!" I rolled my eyes, and started to walk backwards so that I could stil face Yami while walking. "I'll be fine, besi- AH!" My foot slipped, and I fell on my back, painfully.

"Is that your definition of fine?" Yami raised an eyebrow, with a small smile on his face.

I got up, and muttered. "That was an accident… But really, I'll be fine on my own. Bye!" I gave one last wave, and ran back to the bookstore.

* * *

But on my way there, I had a strange feeling that someone was following me… When I reached the entrance of the bookstore, I cleared my throat and said, "Whoever you are, you can come out now… Stop hiding like a coward."

"Sorry…" Someone emerged from the shadows, smiling sheepishly. I was kind of surprised at who it was, though. Angel.

"Angel, why were you following me here…?" I blinked, confused. Alright, I know she's Roxy's friend, but friends don't usually stalk one another… Right?

"Ah, I was just kind of worried about you getting home safe…" Angel shrugged. "So I followed you all the way here… Sorry I didn't tell you… Besides I promised that I'd look after you and Roxy for-" Her eyes widened, and her hands went up to cover her mouth. She must have not supposed to tell Roxy and me that…

"Who'd you promise…? And how do you know about me?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. I was tired of everyone hiding things from me. I deserved to know the truth. How did Angel know about me and how was she able to tell me and Roxy apart? I mean, I think it's a bit obvious, but almost nobody can tell the two of us apart…

Angel's eyes darted around nervously, and she bit her lip. "I'm sorry… I can't tell you, I _promised_ that I wouldn't_. _Roxy understands that breaking promises is wrong… So please, don't make me tell you… But I promise you this, everything will make sense to you guys eventually… I won't break that promise either."

I sighed, and ran my fingers through my hair, thinking. Then I said, "Fine, I won't make you tell me… And I don't doubt that you'll keep your promise… But how long will 'eventually' be? A day? A week? A month? Or maybe even years?"

Angel gave me a pleading look. She looked torn, and her voice sounded strained. "Ren, please don't make this any harder for me… I really want to tell you right now, I really do. But I can't… Like I said, I'm sorry…" She turned to walk away.

"Wait!" I called, and she stopped. "At least tell me this… You know about me and my real name. And you can tell me and Roxy apart, right?"

Angel turned around, and gave me a smile. "Yep, I know you and your real name. And of course I know which one's Roxy and which one's Ren. I would be a horrible friend if I couldn't even tell which one was my real childhood friend, no?"

I couldn't help but feel a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. "You know, you may be hiding things from Roxy and you may be a little dangerous, but you're a real caring and great friend, worrying about her safety like this… I'm sure Roxy's grateful to have you as a friend."

"Thanks," Angel's smile quickly disappeared, though. "Be careful, the both of you, and your friends. This tournament's really dangerous. Don't let your guard down, or you'll-" And then Angel made a slitting motion at her throat with her finger while making some sort of sound at the back of her throat that made my skin crawl.

Alright… So if I'm not careful, I'll die… That sounds very pleasant doesn't it?

"Uh, huh… Alright, we'll be careful…" I nodded. "You should be cautious too, and good luck for the tournament."

"I will, and Ren, I don't need luck because I have skill! I could beat everyone with my eyes closed!" Angel said confidently.

I sweat dropped, thinking: _And she said that Kaiba had a big ego?_

"Well, anyway, I got to go… See you and Roxy later!" Angel waved, and started walking off. "Oh, and good luck in the tournament… 'Cause you guys are going to need it!"

My eyebrow was twitching as I watched her skip off, disappearing into the distance. Yeah, I take back saying that she was a good friend. Sighing, I reached into my pocket for the key to the shop. I unlocked the door, and stepped in the shop. Then, I let Roxy take over.

I expected Roxy to collapse on her bed when we got back, but she decided she wasn't sleepy. She went into the kitchen to go eat something.

_

* * *

_

-Roxanna-

"Cooking books…" I muttered, plucking one from a shelf, and then making my way to the kitchen. I'll admit, I'm a horrible cook, though I have gotten a little better than before. Better meaning that what I make is now edible and won't poison anyone.

I decided to try brownies, since I haven't had any homemade ones in… A long time. I frowned when I opened the book. It was in English. **(Author Note: The story's supposed to be in Japan, but I have no knowledge on any Japanese culture… I'm really sorry! -.- And I can't find the Japanese subbed episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! on any sites without viruses, so I have to use the English dub. -.-)** That's very annoying… It'll take much longer to make because I'm not so fluent in the language.

So I started my task on making food… I was careful to follow all the directions exactly as it said, but while I was cooking, my mind was elsewhere.

I find it funny that Ren is so oblivious… Today was obviously a date, but she refuses to look at it as one.

And something else was nagging at me… That Kuriboh plushie… I frowned. Yugi had given it to me… My frown just grew wider. It's not that I don't like the plushie, or that I don't like Yugi, it's just… It made me wonder, could he possibly like me more than a friend?

No. That was impossible. The two of us were friends, nothing more. After all, didn't he have a crush on Tea or something? And don't friends get each other gifts all the time? And another thing…

I've never thought twice about guys. One, because I was holed up in a bookstore for most of my teenage life with no real friends except a spirit that drives me crazy. And it's not like some random, hot, good looking guy is just going to stroll in. And even if one were to come, I'd probably be his last choice. I mean, I'm an average looking girl. And I'm short. I'm horrible at so many things, like cooking, drawing, and singing. (Seriously, don't ask me to sing… Ever. I'll probably make you go deaf.) Not to mention, my awful personality… The things that I am good at are dueling (though I'd probably lose to Joey or Yugi any day), fighting (Kinda. I didn't _want_ to learn to fight or use any weapons. I was forced to by Angel. And I still can't beat Lucifer when it comes to that.), and ticking people off (Oh, a boy is going to _love_ that trait. Not.).

Besides having no chance at getting a guy, I just don't care. I kinda lost hope at having a normal, happy life after Lucifer killed my adoptive dad. Living just because an everyday chore; I didn't care, but I had to get it done. It's not as if I had suicidal thoughts or anything. After all, brother died just to make sure I wouldn't. I wasn't going to let that go to waste.

Now that I think about it… My life and me as a person, has changed a lot, ever since Duelist Kingdom. I know I was a jerk (probably worse) in the beginning. But I kinda just gradually opened up to Yugi and the others. It's because of them that I actually stopped homeschooling myself and went to high school. They're the reason I can laugh again and actually look forward to the next day. Even though my life's not really normal or perfect, I'm pretty content with what I have so far.

And there's another reason I just don't think about getting a boyfriend. But that's another story… But the point is, Yugi and I are only friends. End of discussion.

I looked down at the brownie batter I had been mixing for quite some time. And then I groaned.

'_Hey, Roxy what are you makin-' _Ren stopped in mid sentence. _'Why did you go dig out mud and put it in a bowl?'_

With a frown, I sighed. "It's not mud… It's supposed to be brownie batter…"

'… _I'm pretty sure that you don't have any sort of green thing in brownies…' _Ren started to chuckle. _'You sure you didn't put f-l-o-w-e-r instead of f-l-o-u-r?'_

I glared, but couldn't really say anything. There were leaves and flower petals sticking out of the dark brown batter. It did look a lot like mud. "Well, congratulations, Ren, you just won the flipping Spelling Bee! Do you want a dictionary for a prize now?" Ren found my sarcasm even more amusing, so she continued to laugh. "Well, I followed the book's instructions exactly… And guess what? They made a typing error! They spelled flour, the cooking ingredient, like flower, the plant!" I growled, glaring at the cookbook. "It's either I'm really unlucky and got the one with the mistake, or all of them are printed that way…"

'_Well, what are you going to do with that… Thing?' _Ren pointed to the bowl of brownie batter.

"… I'm not hungry anymore… Lost my appetite…" I mumbled, and tossed the bowl into the sink. I'll just clean it tomorrow or something… Ren had sunk back into the Hourglass, probably to think about everything going on. She still has to tell me what she's supposed to do in the tournament… And then a sudden thought occurred to me. Tournament…

I ran up the stairs, to my room. I pulled out my cell phone and dug around my box of random things. Some were old toys (most of them burned), a few photos (also mostly destroyed by fire…), and then I found it. My fingers grabbed onto the small piece of paper. I pulled it out of the mess in the box.

It was simple, a slip of paper, with a phone number scrawled on it neatly. I smiled inwardly. _That's just like him to be so perfect… _I quickly dialed the number, and waited for him to pick up. It wasn't long before he did, though. "Hey, it's Roxy."

"_What is it, Roxanna? I'm working, so if it's nothing important, I'll have to hang up."_ So typical of Seto, not even a 'hi'. He's changed a lot since the orphanage, but I don't really blame him. After all, I did too. Even though he had turned cold (and maybe a little selfish…), I still looked up to him as a friend. Ish. After all, one of his new beliefs is that 'the past doesn't matter'. So he doesn't really acknowledge me as the person who he knew back then. Even though I might feel a bit upset about this, I respect his choices.

_Gees, Roxy, stop thinking about all that! Focus! _I mentally scolded myself. Itwas so easy for me to randomly drift off into my own thoughts. "Sorry, I know you're busy with the whole tournament thing, but I have a small favor to ask of you…"

It was midnight by the time I finished the phone call, taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and changing into my pajamas. (And my hair had returned to its 'usual' grey.) I jumped onto my bed, exhausted. I weakly pulled my blanket over myself. Though I hesitated, I ended up hugging the Kuriboh plushie. I hoped that nobody else found out about this… If Joey and Tristan did, they'd never stop teasing me about it. I shuddered at the thought. But I was too tired to worry about that, and I quickly fell asleep.

I didn't even notice that something was missing from my room…

I had a dream that night… No, it was a nightmare. My worst nightmare ever. It was so horrible that I can't even describe it without shuddering.

The skies were a beautiful sky blue (So beautiful that it was hard to look at). There was a meadow full of colorful flowers. The flowers' colors were so bright it could blind a person. In the meadow were a bunch of floating Kuribohs. Each one of them looked unique in a way; some were different colors, some had hats, some had bows, and some were too cute to be real. The whole scene was gushing with so much cuteness and perfection it was unreal. The worst part was that girl. She was wearing a bright neon pink (Pink… I hate that color…) dress (Dresses… I hate those too.). That girl was dancing around in the flowers, twirling around and giggling. (Oh, the girly giggling… The horror!)

What's worse is that girl was me.

_Me_ of all people. The person who hates almost all girly things… Oh, that nightmare is forever burned into my memory…

I think the reason for that nightmare would have to be that Kuriboh plushie I was hugging… The logical and normal Roxy thing to do would be to toss that thing in a trash can. But I don't know why… But I wanted to keep it…

What's wrong with me lately? Maybe I hit my head recently and damaged my brain…

_

* * *

_

-Dusk (The one without the accent)-

"People need to learn to lock their windows…" I muttered, limping out in the streets, gripping my bleeding shoulder. The blood was trickling down my shirt, and it covered my hand. I clenched my teeth, hissing slightly from the stinging pain. "And I need to keep my guard up next time…"

'_You're alright, right?'_ Niu appeared next to me, looking worried._ 'That was a pretty bad blow…'_

"I'm fine… But I'm worried about you." I glared at his ghostly shape. "You know you shouldn't be exerting yourself. Your spirit's already unstable, if you keep on using magic so much, you'll die."

'_I died before, I can handle dying again,'_ Niu shrugged, not looking the least bit worried. _'How's your memory?'_

"I guess it's ok… But I can never really remember that many faces or names…" I admitted. Then I narrowed my eyes. He distracted me again. "Hey, don't change the subject! When the tournament starts, we're probably going to be chased again. And this time, I don't care what happens to me, you are not to use magic at all. Understood?"

'_Aw, you worry too much… I actually wish I were dead.' _Niu said casually. _'Much more peaceful if you ask me. Besides if I hadn't stepped in and helped you back there, you would have been-' _Then he made a slitting motion and his neck with his finger. _'You don't want all of your struggles to go to waste now, do you? I mean, you've worked so hard to get here._'

"… No I don't. But you have something important to do here too… Just don't forget that." I sighed. "And next time I see that Yugi kid, please don't hold me back." And I noticed he never agreed to not use his magic. That slippery little-!

Niu faked surprise. _'But I didn't do a thing! What are you talking about?'_

"Stop pretending. I know you were stopping me from punching him." I growled, my blood boiling.

'_I will not let you hurt that poor kid for your reason.' _Niu shrugged. _'And besides, you promised me you wouldn't do anything rash when you saw him.'_

"… Fine, I'm sorry…" I muttered. "Anger just got the best of me, I suppose…"

'_So… Are you entering the tournament?'_ Niu asked. _'It's going to be awful hard to duel and run from those creeps at the same time…'_

"Of course I'm entering… That's the whole reason I came here. And as for the people after me…" A smile crept its way onto my face, despite the pain from my shoulder. "It makes the tournament that much more exciting."

'_I thought you said the tournament was a waste of time?'_ Niu teased.

I sighed. "It's a waste of time to those who want to gain a title or get famous. But, I have a much more important reason for entering… Or did you forget?"

'_I didn't… I just wanted to make sure…'_ Niu replied. '_But there's another problem… You're missing your mask… It got lost during that fight.'_

"… Hmm… That is a rather annoying problem. I can't have people seeing my face…" I pondered for a bit, while still walking forward. Then a mischievous smile spread across my face. "Hey, what do you think about… Asking to borrow something?"

Niu sighed, and smiled a little. _'Why did I know that was going to be your solution?'_

"Isn' t that what I always do?" I smiled, and then winced from the sudden pain in my shoulder. "But first I have to treat my shoulder…"

'_Leave it to me.'_ Niu declared. He shut his eyes, and started chanting some sort of incantation.

"Wait, don't-" I tried to stop him, but he had already finished chanting. My wound immediately began to seal up, looking like it never had a deep cut in it before, and the blood disappeared, from my hand and from my clothes. I glared at Niu.

Niu smiled apologetically. _'Sorry… But I never said I wouldn't use my magic, did I?'_ And his ghostly form started to flicker, looking even more transparent. Niu looked weak. It wasn't long before he faded away, probably to rest. And his lifespan shortened again.

"You idiot…" I muttered, changing my walking into a fast run. "Always risking your life for others… Don't you ever think that the ones who care about you will worry when you throw your life out there like it's nothing?"

_

* * *

_

-Renenet-

Cold. Alone. Confused. That's how I felt.

I shuddered. It happened again…

My soul room had shifted. This was something I had hid from Roxy. My soul room reflects my mood. Usually, it's just a simply tropical- jungle sort of thing, with tons of birds. A happy, nice place to be.

But right now… It was just a mass of darkness. Everything looked unclear, murky, and dark. But even the darkness seemed to be ever changing, always swirling and shifting into different shapes. It was so cold… So chilling…

The only thing that was forever the same with my changing room would be the single chair in the middle of the room. And on one of the arms of the chair was the Dark Magician plushie… I had accidentally taken it into my soul room.

I sighed, trying to calm myself, pacing around. But the more I paced, the more I thought. My thoughts started wandering, wandering to random things. I winced and clutched my head with one hand when I felt a sudden sharp pain go through my head.

Shoot… I had subconsciously been thinking about my family. My head was throbbing like crazy now.

I didn't tell the others about this either… But, somehow, if I try to push myself, I can remember small pieces of things. But they were always so confusing and I didn't want to remember most of that…

The pain was starting to become unbearable. And I suddenly heard a voice. _**That person… That person killed him.**_

I fell to my knees, biting my lip to stop from crying out in pain. My head felt like it was going to explode or split in two. I somehow knew what this voice was going to say. And I didn't want to hear any of this. _'No…'_

_**He killed him.**_

'_Stop it…'_

_**He killed your dad.**_

'_Lies.'_

_**His father killed your dad.**_

'_Liar.'_

_**It's his fault your dad died.**_

'_No, it isn't!'_

_**Stop denying the truth.**_

'_I'm not denying anything!'_

'_**Yami', as you call him… His father killed your dad.**_

'_SHUT UP!'_

I was shaking uncontrollably, and the pain finally subsided. The voice disappeared too. But my heart was still pounding fast, hammering against my chest. The room, being a mirror of my emotions, was in turmoil, shifting and changing so quickly, due to my distress.

… That voice was lying… Right? It had to be… Or… Or…

I took in a shaky breath, and exhaled slowly. I needed to calm down. I shut my eyes, hoping to fall asleep, after all, I was exhausted. But I knew that tonight was going to be a sleepless night for me.

… You know, I would be better off forgetting everything. Or knowing the whole truth.

I have heard that knowing a portion of the truth is worse than not knowing anything… I'm starting to doubt if what I remember is even the truth. Knowing only part of the story and even doubting myself is starting to drive me insane. If you can't even trust yourself, then it's all over.

I'm being pushed deeper into a chasm of darkness by my own hesitance on what to believe.

And no one can help me out but myself.

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

… ***bursts out laughing* Oh, sorry, I thought that was so funny… Roxy being all girly in that dream… xD Though you might not. -.- But just to balance that out, I added Ren's distress at the end. o.o Did I go a little overboard with that?**

**Ok, so a lot of you might know that there's a big difference between the Japanese and English dubs for Yugioh, right? Well, apparently the Japanese Dub left out a LOT of violence from the manga. (Including Yami Marik getting his head chopped off. And he was laughing. O_o)**

**Alright, enough of my ranting. Thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are appreciated. ^^'**


	14. Chapter 13 Creeper

Fading Colors

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or its characters. I only own my OC's, and the fanfic. I'm not getting any money out of this. Just for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note: **

**Sorry for the super late update… I was really busy with school. To clear some things up, you could call Niu, Dusk's 'yami', in a way. Gosh, this story's getting confusing. Feel free to message me/leave a review with questions. Oh, I added some stuff from the Japanese version too.**

**Chapter 13- Creeper**

_-Roxanna-_

"Where the heck did I put them? I know saw it right there yesterday night… Unless I was sleepwalking and put them somewhere else?" I sighed, aggravated. Then I dove into my mess of a closet, digging around in the mounds of clothes and other random things, searching.

Today, I had gotten up a few minutes earlier than usual, and for once, I was all ready to go to school. I had my uniform on, all my homework done (probably all wrong), and my book bag slung over my shoulder. And I would have already been on my way to school if I wasn't missing those things.

'_What's the ruckus about?' _Ren, stuck her ghostly head into the closet, looking amused. _'What did you lose this time?'_

"Um… Nothing…" I crawled out of the closet, a sock sticking to the top of my head. I threw the sock aside, and it landed on the ever growing mound of dirty clothes. Gees, I have to clean up the house soon… Ugh, stupid chores… "Just a pair of sunglasses and a scarf…"

'_Hmm… Sunglasses and scarf…' _Ren pondered a bit, and then snapped her fingers. _'Oh! The ones you got when you went to go visit your aunt and uncle in-'_

"Do not speak of them again." I seethed, gritting my teeth. "I hate my relatives so much…"

My so called 'relatives' –who are supposed to be family- didn't take me in after my family drove down that cliff. They were the ones who allowed me to be sent off to that orphanage. At that point, my only relatives consisted of my aunt and uncle. The two of them never really liked Ryan or me… So they just outright rejected on being my legal guardians. But both of them had passed away after I had stayed at the orphanage for a year. My uncle died in an airplane crash and my aunt was murdered. The murderer was never found. Not that I really cared about who it was. Whoever it was did me a favor of taking care of her for me…

'_Gees sorry! But you might as well forgive 'em already since they're dead.' _Ren shrugged.

I sighed, not commenting on her previous statement. And I set off for school. As I walked, I started to think about a lot of things that have been bugging me since yesterday night.

It seems like everyone's keeping something from me. Angel, that Dusk dude or Niu (I'm still pretty confused on who the heck they are.), and even Ren…

She has a specific reason for entering the tournament. I know, after all, I've been stuck with her for years. But yet she's hasn't told me yet… And for some reason, she seems more distant. It's not like she's gone into depressed mode or anything, she's just… Different. Like she's avoiding me as much as possible without worrying me too much.

Like earlier, when I didn't say I'd forgive my relatives. Usually, she'd probably nag me until I gave in. But she didn't…

I sighed. Things are getting so confusing… I wish I could just have a normal life… You know not having any magic, spirits, and the end of the world looming over me… A life of just being a normal high school girl who's only worries is guys and school…

Wait, scratch that. It would be too boring anyway. Besides, just the thought of me gushing over guys… It's so stupid, I could laugh.

I guess I just gotta settle with what I got… But I _am_ going to get to the bottom of this. Whatever's going on…

_

* * *

_

-Niu-

I casually strolled around the nearly empty streets. A couple of adults gave me a glare that had 'you should be in school' written all over. I can't really blame them, since I did look like someone cutting school.

I pulled down on the rim of my hat so it hid my eyes better. Gees, not having a mask is pretty annoying… I frowned. Though it's all Dusk's fault for never running away from a fight… He gets in so much trouble sometimes.

Popping in a piece of candy and chewing noisily, I stopped in mid step. All the people had somehow disappeared off the street, and it looked empty. All the shops had suddenly closed. A smile crept onto my face. So he did notice.

_In about three… Two… One-_

"NIU, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" An angry shout rang into the air, and I winced at both the volume and the mention of my name. People just don't know when to stop calling me that.

"I was wondering when you'd be aware of my disappearance…" I stepped to the side to avoid a punch to the back of my head. Then I turned on my heels to face… Dusk. I was amused to find that he had gotten another mask. It makes one wonder how he manages to find one so quickly. And manage to 'persuade' someone to give it to him.

And he looked very angry. I couldn't see his eyes, but I could tell they were burning with fury. "Look, Accent Boy, I thought I told you to not use magic!" He growled. "Are you trying to commit suicide? I can't believe you're that stupid!"

"Is Accent Boy my nickname?" I smiled, munching on a chocolate bar. "Sounds interesting… A nice change from Niu Tarik… Niu sounds like a girl's name if you ask me. I'm not exactly fond of my last name either…"

"Stop avoiding the question!" Dusk glared. "Why are you traveling around in a solid body? It wastes a lot of magic energy you know! You're going to die if you keep this up!"

"It's easier to get things done… Besides, I'm fine. I'll live for at least another six months even if I stay in this form the entire time." I shrugged. "And anyway, it's not really a body… I just made it to last a little bit so I can move around on my own." To prove my point, I let my hand turn into a mass of writhing and shifting dark black shadows. That material seemed to be radiating with darkness and it seemed almost alive. Tendrils of black smoke rose from the weird substance. Then I forced it to form back into a normal looking hand. "It's just temporary. Like my 'life'." My smile started to falter. "I was supposed to have died thousands of years ago." Right, my existence was just because of a careless mistake. I shouldn't even be here right now.

"… Whatever, I don't want you to stay like that forever, you got it?" Dusk sighed, defeated. "Especially during the tournament. I don't think the two of us running around in separate bodies would be a good idea."

"Sure," I reached into my pocket, pulling out some candy, tossing a few more in my mouth. Then I froze and swallowed before speaking. "… They're here."

I could see them. A whole group hiding in the small alleys. And I could sense that they had weapons. Hmm… Dusk and me, against about ten armed people. Oh, doesn't that sound like a fair fight…

A smirk formed on Dusk's lips. He drew out a bunch of knives (courtesy of Angel), his eyes gleaming with excitement. Oh, that's not good… I know that look. He wanted to kill.

"Dusk, try not to kill them if possible. Knock them out instead, or only give them a few minor injuries." I didn't want to cause anymore 'accidents' in Domino. Dusk already had an airplane go 'boom!'.

Dusk nodded absentmindedly, but didn't really listen to my words. I sighed. How did I end up getting stuck with him again?

The enemies started coming out into the open, and I saw the gleam of metal in their hands. Probably knives, swords, or guns. They were slowly advancing towards us.

I couldn't just leave Dusk to fight alone… Especially since he'd probably make a whole scene about it again. The last thing we needed was more attention.

Taking a deep breath, I put my hand out in front of me, and concentrated. My hand started to glow black, and it started to heat up. The heat soon turned into a searing pain. I winced as I felt another small portion of my lifespan disappear. It might have been a few seconds, it might have been a day. But I didn't really care, since I got the desired result.

It was that weird substance again, this time it appeared on the floor. The shadowlike essence started to float into the air, near y outstretched hand. It started to morph and shift into a vague shape. I gripped it, and it glowed crimson red, slightly blinding me. Then the light disappeared, and I was holding a sword in my hand. The hilt was black and the slightly curved blade was blood red. And very sharp. The sword was a foot longer than my arm, and pretty light.

I took a few experimental swings into the air. Foggy black smoke trailed behind the blade as it sliced cleanly through air. I smiled slightly. "I'm not really used to this kind of sword… But I guess it'll do for now."

Dusk looked pretty impressed. "Nice looking sword… But how are expecting to not kill with something as sharp as that?"

"I have my ways…" I twirled the sword like a baton, and then held it normally, getting into fighting stance. I heard Dusk mutter 'show-off'. He had his knives ready.

And then the enemies pounced on us the same time we charged.

_

* * *

_

-Roxanna-

It was after school, and I was not feeling so good. It felt like my head was going to explode. I personally think this happened because I was thinking too hard and worrying while actually trying to pay attention during class today. Le gasp! I was actually listening to the teacher for once! And now I have a horrible headache. This just proves that thinking and school is not very good for you. Or at least for me.

Of course the gang and me were on the roof of the school. The cool breezes distracted me from the pain slightly, but I still wasn't in the best of shape. So while the others were standing while talking, I sat, gripping my pounding head.

Apparently Yugi had called Tea to inform her all about the tournament. Joey and Tristan had already fallen asleep by the time Yugi tried to call them, so he and Tea were explaining about the tournament to them right now.

"So Kaiba's holding his own huge tournament? I can't believe that money bags didn't send me an invitation!" Joey growled, his clenched fists shaking with fury. "I was the runner up in Duelist Kingdom! Where's the respect?"

"Joey, if you hadn't noticed, Kaiba doesn't like you." Tristan pointed out.

Joey seemed to be even more angered by the comment, and I vaguely heard him mention something about 'Rox being invited but she only got in third'. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and my headache only grew even more painful. "Joey, if this makes you feel any better, Kaiba didn't finish sending all the invites yesterday." That seemed to cheer Joey up greatly.

"But Joey, how can you go to the tournament when your sister's operation's tomorrow?" Tristan asked.

"The operation won't take long," Joey waved dismissively. "I'll just come to the tournament afterwards. Oh, Yugi, Rox, are you guys entering?"

"Yep…" I muttered, my headache still not subsiding. I wasn't really sure on entering before, but I knew Ren needed to get something done… And I had a feeling that I'd get some questions answered if I entered.

"I'm definitely going." Yugi nodded. "But there's this one ante rule, so I can't lose."

"Ante rule?" Joey asked. "What's that?"

"The ante rule is a rule that allows the winner of the duel to take a rare card from the loser." Yugi explained.

Joey's eyes widened and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a card. "That means if I lose, then my Red Eyes will be taken away?"

"You sure you want to enter?" Tea asked. "You might lose your Red Eyes."

Joey all of a sudden went from panicked to confident. "Nah, course I'm entering. Besides, my Red Eyes is my goddess of victory!" He kissed his Red Eyes card, and the rest of us made faces. "He and I are connected by an unbreakable line of destiny! I'll just keep winning one rare card after another with him!"

"Someone's being a bit arrogant today…" I muttered.

"Hey, bad things happen to people when they get too greedy." Tea warned, but Joey didn't really seem to be listening.

"Oh right, Joey I forgot to tell you. You'll need Kaiba's newly improved Duel Disk to enter." Yugi added, and Joey immediately frowned, probably recalling the time Kaiba beat him with the first version of the Duel Disk back in Duelist Kingdom. Yugi continued, "My grandpa's game shop doesn't sell it, but another card shop does."

And Joey burst to life again. "Great! Let's meet up at that card shop later!" With that, he ran off. The rest of us sighed, saying goodbye to each other and heading home first before going to the card shop.

* * *

With my book bag slung over one shoulder, I walked back home, in a slightly good mood, since my headache had finally subsided. And then I got two surprises waiting for me when I looked at the front steps of the bookstore. One was a box, with a Duel Disk inside. (Well, it really wasn't a surprise, since I asked Kaiba to send one to me since I wasn't sure where to get one. Plus, I had him uh… Add a little 'modification' to it…)

But the real surprise was that someone was holding and examining the box. Someone wearing a mask and the hoodie, called Dusk or Niu… (I am still very confused about that topic… All I know is, Accent= Niu. Attitude= Dusk.) I cleared my throat trying to get his attention. He turned his head to look at me. "Uh… Hi? Would you mind putting that box down, please?"

"Oh, sure!" He placed the box down. "I was just waiting around here for you." It was definitely Niu, with that accent.

"Uh, huh… Don't you go to school?" I asked. I couldn't imagine him going to school. Weirdo with the mask… That would creep out a lot of teachers and students. Plus, this time his mask was bright neon green, only hiding his eyes. Is he trying to stand out or something? "What did you want anyway?"

"School? Hmm…" He tapped his chin. Then he snapped with realization. "Oh! You mean those buildings where they teach you stuff!" _Is he serious? Or was he just joking about not really knowing what a school was? _"Nope. I don't."

"Uh… How old are-" Before I finished my sentence, he shoved something in front of my face, and dropped it in my outstretched hands. Well, two things really. The scarf and the pair of glasses. I was shocked speechless for a moment. How did he get…?

"I needed to return this!" Niu smiled. "Sorry I borrowed 'em without your permission…"

"How did you…?" I asked.

"I accidentally lost my mask in a fight," Niu shrugged. "I needed something to hide my face with until I got another mask." Then he added. "You should lock your windows at night. People can always sneak in you know."

"So you snuck into my house last night…?" Ok, now he was getting plain creepy.

"Oh, you might want to wash the scarf sometime. I got some blood on it." He chuckled when I made a face. And I started to notice he really didn't answer most of my questions. "Well, I gotta go. I only stopped by to return your stuff." He started to walk off, but when he took a step, he suddenly keeled over, falling on his knees.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ran over, and my eyes widened. While we were talking, I hadn't noticed his right pant leg was drenched with blood. The deep red liquid seeped through the fabric and it was starting to drip onto the road. There was a trickle of blood coming from underneath his mask as well. Was I blind before or something? How could I have not noticed before? "Why didn't you tell me you were injured? You need to go to a hospital or get bandaged up!"

"Hmm?" He shakily stood up, glancing at blood. But still, he didn't sound worried, his voice remaining as carefree as before. "Ahh, I guess I was wounded earlier… I hadn't noticed. Oh well. But don't worry about me, it'll heal soon." Before I could say anything else, he gave me a wave, and ran off.

'… _I wonder why.' _I blinked, surprised to see Ren next to me. She murmured, _'He obviously remembers me. Why won't he tell me anything? Maybe he's mad at me?'_ She noticed me looking at her, and she quickly said, _'Oh, I'm just talking to myself, don't listen to a word I say!'_ With that, she disappeared.

I sighed, walking into the bookstore with all my stuff. I placed the Duel Disk box on the kitchen counter, along with the scarf and glasses. Talk about a weird return back home. I quickly changed out of my uniform, back into the outfit I wore in Duelist Kingdom. Just for old memories sake. I needed to meet up with the others at the card shop.

And I made sure to lock the window before I left. Just in case some creeper wanted to come back again.

**

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

**Well, this chapter accomplished… NOTHING! xD I wanted to fit the whole episode in this chapter, but I don't have enough time today… Oh well. Sorry if it really sucks… *bangs head on the desk* School's been a real pain… And yeah… Roxy doesn't have the best family relationships, does she? **

**Thanks for reading anyway, and reviews are always appreciated. ^^'**


	15. AN and Preview

**Author Note:**

**SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT:**

**The reason I haven't been updating is I'm in the hospital. Yeah. I got in a sort o' accident and I've been stuck in here for a while... But I'll be out of here soon, I think. So I'm super sorry for not updating earlier. But I need to make up a bunch of school work and recover. But anyways, I thought I should give you guys something to read... So this is a tiny preview for chapter 14. (I'm going to delete this note after I finish writing chap 14.)**

**Again, I'm really sorry. Forgive me? T_T And I'm starting to think my writing's getting worse each chapter... D:**

_-Dusk-_

"This trick of yours is pretty… Useful and cruel at the same time." Angel said. "But it makes me trust you less."

Angel and I just got our Duel Disks, and were walking around. But I should have just left on my own. At least I would avoid arguing with the midget. But nope, I stuck around. I'm such an idiot.

"How so?" I asked. "We got our Duel Disks, and we're ready for the tournament. I don't see what's wrong here. Everything's going smoothly enough."

"What's wrong here is that you manipulate people!" Angel refused to look me in the eye. Both her hands were used to carry the box the Duel Disk was in. And her hands were shaking, as if she was scared of _me._ And we were allies… Kind of. "Nobody can trust you like that."

"I guess…" I shrugged. It wasn't as if I trusted anyone either. So it was kind of fair. "I never said I wanted anyone to trust me anyway. So get out of here if you don't want me around, pipsqueak."

Angel glared at me. "… Your social skills are terrible. But you're really awesome at ticking people off. Keep up the good work, and someone's going to come after you with a weapon. Someone named Angel."

"Why thank you. I take pride in my personality." I said sarcastically. "But I'd say that your social skills are equal to mine. I don't see your friends anywhere."

Angel's eyes sparked with anger. Her hands stopped trembling. "My friends are all back home. Except for Roxy. And even if my friends aren't here, at least I have friends. Unlike some masked freak I know."

"Ouch, that stung." I said with mock hurt, and stopped walking. "You broke my dark little heart."

Angel walked right past me, and hissed, "You don't even have a heart." She disappeared into the crowd.

I sighed. Yep, she was right. My best talent- ticking lots people off. I stopped counting how many after the hundredth.

Then I remembered something. Something I hadn't done yet. Aww, shoot. I mentally kicked myself. And then I ran after Angel.

I weaved in and out of groups of people, and even pushed a couple of people out of the way. My eyes scanned around, until I finally spotted Angel. I managed to catch up to her. "Hey."

Angel flashed me an annoyed glare. "What do you want now, mask freak?"

I ignored the insult. "How many?"

"Excuse me?" She blinked. "How many what?"

"How many graveyards are in Domino City?" I asked.

"Um, I think like two or three…?" She frowned. "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"My tradition." I shrugged and looked up to the sky. It was still light. I might be able to finish by tomorrow afternoon or morning. "I can't do it while the tournament's going on though… I'll have to hurry."

"Eh?" Angel blinked. "Do what?"

"Nothing much." I placed my Duel Disk box on the ground and pulled out a pair of gloves. Then I slid them onto my hands. "Just some… Walking around. Thanks and see you later, pipsqueak." I grabbed the box, and ran off.

I heard Angel mutter, "Crazy mask maniac. Don't go blowing up graveyards too." She then walked off.

I smiled slightly. '_Psh, like I'd ever do that.'_

A small, annoying, weird accented voice said, _'Yeah, you would. And you'd laugh too.' _Probably the only person in the world who had that accent was Niu.

_'… Shut up.'_ I was half glad, half irritated that Niu had stopped using his temporary body. So while he was residing in the back of my head, his lifespan safe… He was annoying the hell out of me.

_'Hey, Dusk, what are you doing?' _Niu asked.

_'Flower shop, graveyard, knife, axe, forest, the usual.' _I replied. _'You should know by now after all, it's my routine.'_

_'Ah, right… The only spell you managed to master from me… Well, have fun, flower boy.' _Niu teased, sounding annoyingly cheerful.

_'I am NOT a flower boy.' _I growled. I knew he was only joking, but still, sometimes he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.

_Niu smirked. 'Uh huh. Sure you're not… Flower boy.'_

… The major disadvantage of having a spirit traveling around with you: When he annoys you to the point you can't stand him, you can't cause any physical harm to the spirit. So you can't shut him up.

I really want a mute button right now… Can someone lend me one?

_'Hey, Flower boy, you're going to run into a wall! Pay attention to where you're going!'_ Niu scolded. _'Come on, you're old enough to walk without a guide, right? Or do you need me to tell you where every obstacle is? Hey, there's a pebble in your path if you walk about 2 more steps! You don't want to trip now, right?'_

I groaned, and stepped aside just in time to avoid running into the wall. Is there any way to get rid of him?


	16. IMPORTANT

***SUPER DUPER EXTRA IMPORTANT- well, kind of**

**Erm, well, first off, I'm terribly sorry about not updating any of my stories in a very long time. The main reasons for my inactiveness would be my injuries, schoolwork I had to make up, and the large amounts of tragedies happening to my family and friends. I don't even want to mention how many funerals I've had to attend lately. So yeah, I've been pretty depressed and I didn't feel like writing anything. Reading this sad story lately isn't really helping my mood. Another reason was I've been losing interest in Yu-Gi-Oh! for a while now, for some unknown reason. It's been very frustrating... I don't want to not like it! *bangs head on the table***

**Due to various reasons stated above, I will put Violin's Song on hiatus. (I'm starting to dislike the couple, and I really don't know why. Ugh, somebody knock some sense into me, please. And I have very little inspiration for writing this story.) The hiatus might be... Well, forever. Or it might just last a month or two. I don't know. I'm really tempted to delete that story, actually.**

**Also, regarding Fading Colors... I did finish writing the chapter, but I lost the file when my computer broke. So I have to rewrite that when I get the chance. Though, updating will be very inconsistent, because of issues stated in the first paragraph.**

**And for my other story/stories, those will be put on hiatus as well.**

**Oh and for those of you that have read Inner Apocalypse and don't know, the second season is called 'Fading Colors'; you can find it on my profile. It seems like some people haven't caught on to that yet...?**

**Again, I am truely sorry for not updating or even writing anything in so long. I promise when things are better for me, I'll start writing again. But that might take a while...**

* * *

**Ah, just so you aren't completely gloomy after reading this, I'll share with you something 'funny', I guess.**

**Alright, so the day I got out of the hospital for the first time, I stepped out of the building. And then I was tackled to the ground by my sister. As you might think, it was very painful. It was pretty funny, yet stupid of her to do. I don't think tackling previously injured patients is a smart thing, do you?**

**Oh, and I am probably going to change my username soon. Just warning you guys ahead of time.**


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